A Soul Eater Fairy Tale
by Amber Masquerade
Summary: AU. What happens when Soul Eater and a classic fairy tale collide - it's all in the title. Mainly SoulxMaka, KidxLiz, BlackstarxTsubaki. Rated T for language and a little violence.
1. A Meeting That Changed Fate

**It's just like the not very creative title says. Enjoy~**

**Remember to rate and review! I do not own Soul Eater, but if I did I'd probably be able to die happy!**

* * *

Once upon a time…

There lived two large kingdoms, both very powerful: Albarn Kingdom and Gorgon Kingdom. Long ago, before there was peace, a war between the two kingdoms erupted. They fought for power and territory. This war was named "The Endless War," because it went on for a long 300 years. In this time, many people had died. The war would've continued, until both kingdoms came under new rule. King Spirit Albarn of the Albarn Kingdom and Queen Medusa Gorgon of the Gorgon Kingdom realized that their ancestors fought a useless fight.

* * *

"Presenting: King Spirit Albarn of the Albarn Kingdom!" A councilman called from the rafters above. King Spirit walked in, cape dangling from his shoulders, and crown hung high atop his head. Heavily booted footsteps swept loudly across the meeting hall, echoing loudly against its vast walls. Taking a seat at the far end of the table, he regarded the other nobles who were bowing in his presence.

"Presenting: Queen Medusa of the Gorgon Kingdom!" Another call rang out from the rafters. On the other side of the room, the curtains blocking the door parted and revealed the queen. She also wore a crown and dress to show her regality. Once again, the nobles bowed their heads as she went to take her seat across from Spirit.

"Let the meeting of the Albarn Kingdom and Gorgon Kindgom commence!" Spirit rose, clearing his throat, and began reading from a large ink-marked paper crinkled from over-handling.

"This meeting is called in regards to the Endless War- A war that has been lasting now for over 300 years! We are gathered here to finally end this feud that our ancestors mistakenly fought. With no doubt, this war has cost us endless lives, endless pain, and endless troubles. But now, we have a chance to end this pain and suffering!" He said triumphantly.

"And how do you propose to do such a thing, King Spirit?" Queen Medusa retorted. "You cannot just simply end something that has scarred our kingdoms for years!" Spirit thought hard, furrowing his brow.

"Now is the time to make peace with the kingdoms. If we cannot end this madness now, then it will never cease."

"So what will it be, King Spirit?"

"Perhaps a peace treaty."

"_Words_ on paper cannot guarantee the safety of our kingdoms or our people."

"What are you suggesting?"

"I will make an offer." A menacing smile formed across her face as she leaned on her elbows on table. "However, to make this deal possible, you must also offer something in exchange." The councilmen buzzed with chatter amongst themselves. Medusa raised her hand to silence them.

"Very well then. What will this offer be? Money, land, crops?"

"No, it needs to be something more. Something that will make sure that our kingdoms will never fight again." The queen chuckled. "How about a marriage? Not only will it halt the fighting, it will unite the kingdom under one rule! We can become the strongest kingdom this land has ever seen!" The councilmen broke out in chatter again, but this time Spirit quieted them down.

"A marriage?" he said. "There is no way could possibly take your hand in marriage...not after Kami died..." Spirit's voice trailed off after painfully remembering his wife, who had passed away only 3 years ago.

"Then I suppose that you don't want to unite our kingdoms and the fighting will continue." Spirit thought miserably hard to find something other than marriage to make peace. "Oh!" Medusa said slyly. "I know. You have a daughter, don't you...? And I have a step-son, who is heir to the throne."

"Maka? There's no way I can force my daughter into a marriage! There must be another way other than marriage!" He pleaded with her.

"Well, what other choice to we have? The princess of the Albarn Kingdom to marry the prince of the Gorgon Kingdom; it will be perfect. Unless...you ask my hand in marriage instead."

"If I do, then my daughter will never be able look at me for the rest of my life! I made promise to not marry anyone else after her mother died..." Feeling like a cornered animal, he feared that marrying off his daughter to an unknown prince would be the only way. "Let me confirm with her first."

"And I will confirm with the prince also. We meet back her tomorrow morning." The queen stood up to leave. "I hope we are able to come to an agreement, King Spirit."

**OooooooooO**

He watched his daughter play in the courtyard with her two friends. To see her laugh and smile with them always put a smile on his face. Little Maka Albarn had grown up so fast. Now she was 12, and going to be forced to marry a boy that she didn't even know. The pain in his chest grew as he pushed the door to the courtyard open. "Papa!" She ran over to him with a smile brighter than the sun. "How was the meeting?"

Spirit greeted her with a sad smile. "It was good..."

"What's wrong, Papa?" She tugged at his cape playfully. "Maka, I have good news. We can finally end the Endless War."

"Really? It's about time," she exclaimed. "If that's so, then why do you seem so upset?"

"Can I ask you a question? What kind of queen would you like to be when it's your turn to rule?"

"That's easy! I'm gonna be the best queen ever!" She puffed up her chest proudly and smiled.

"Would you be able to make sacrifices for your kingdom?"

"Um...sure!"

"Would you…Let's say marry somone?" Spirit tried to sound cheerful, but telling your daughter that she is forced to marry someone isn't exactly an easy task.

"Marry? Ew! I can't marry someone now!" With a nervous laugh, he ruffled his daughter's hair.

"Let's pretend that you have to...what would you do?"

"Well...if I had to then... I guess I would," she said thoughtfully. "But only for the sake of the kingdom!"

"Is that so?"

"Yup!"

"Okay then. Tomorrow morning, I want you to come to the meeting with me. I want to introduce you to someone."

"Am I really gonna get to go?" Maka bolted off and told her friends excitedly about the news. Running back to her father, she asked, "Is he nice? Is he special? What are we gonna do?"

Avoiding all the questions, Spirit replied, "It's a surprise."

**OooooooooO**

"You said you wished to speak with me, Queen Medusa?" The prince walked into the eerily dark chamber, hands tucked neatly behind his back. Medusa sat on the throne with a large black snake wrapped around her arm, stroking its head while the snake made a cat-like purring sound.

"Yes, Prince Kid." Medusa got off her throne and strode over to him. "I sent you here to tell you that I have a request."

"What foolishness it is this time?"

"I have a very important request, my son."

"Do not refer to me as your 'son.' Just because father chose you to become his new wife does not mean that I have chosen you to become my new mother," Kid said coldly.

"What does it matter to you now?" She laughed. "Your father is gone, and I'm the ruler now."

"You were never even half the ruler my father was!" He shouted furiously back, balling his fists and narrowing his eyes at her.

"Oh please, don't flatter me," she mocked with a grin. "You're just like your father; so stern and strict. Lighten up a little bit. Must we always fight like this whenever I try and started a decent conversation?" The snake on her arm hissed at his face as she walked by him.

"Just get to what you called me for. I can't stand being in the same room as you."

"You are going to marry the princess of the Albarn Kingdom- Princess Maka. The marriage between you and her will make peace between the two kingdoms."

"Albarn Kingdom? Aren't they our sworn enemies?"

"Yes, they were. But now, we have decided to put the past behind. If you marry her, the kingdoms will become one."

"And what if I refuse?"

"Then this war will never end." Medusa continued to fool around with the snake.

"You make it seem like marriage is the only answer!"

Medusa wore a grin on her face larger than that of a Cheshire cat's. "Hmm, you're a clever boy, even only at the age of 12. But, you see, it is as simple as it seems. It will symbolize two powers coming together. Once the people see that we are willing to forgive each other, then they will cease fighting. Something as primitive as an exchange of goods is not sufficient enough to prove that we are prepared to give up our perpetual fighting." Before responding, Kid processed her words carefully in his mind.

"Fine then, Medusa; you win this time. I shall give in to your will. To maintain order in these kingdoms, I will marry her."

**OooooooooO**

"Okay, Papa! Okay! You don't have to fix my hair anymore, I can do it myself!" Maka struggled to get her father's hands off her head. They had come to a stop at the end of a long stretch of hallway in the Gorgon castle. The walls were painted a valiant gold adorned with many pictures of past rulers, all of which looked intimately and intimidatingly at you if you looked at them. In front of an oversized door, the king and his daughter were preparing to enter- which of course was the reason why Spirit was desperately trying to help Maka look her best.

"No, wait! I think the maids missed a spot when they were combing it! Just one more..." He reached over her head again to pat down a small strand of hair sticking upwards.

"Done yet?" She pouted.

"Finished..." Spirit took a step back and admired his daughter, who was in her finest dress wearing her finest shoes and had her hair worn in the finest of fashions. "You look beautiful, just like your mother." Maka hid her blush under the pink ruffles of the collar. "It's time."

Taking her hand, Spirit let her into a large room. Inside was a boy of the same age, wearing a black suit with white stripes on both sides of his arms. He looked extremely well groomed; all of his hair was completely down and organized, his shoes were clean and shiny and his suit was neat and in order. The boy stood at the window, both hands in his pockets, and noticed the two come in. "Hello. You must be Princess Maka." His golden eyes, cold and calculating, scanned her from head to toe. Maka noticed something strange- on one side of his hair there were three white strips going horizontally across half of his head.

"Hi. Are you the boy I'm supposed to meet?" She asked as she got closer to him.

"Well, I don't see anyone else in this room besides us," he said.

"I'll leave you two to it!" Spirit said, edging out the door and leaving Maka and this boy alone.

"Who are you anyways?"

"I'm the prince of the Gorgon Kingdom. My name is Kid." Kid smoothed down his suit, running his hands down the wrinkles a few times to make sure they were gone. After fixing it, he held out his hand and she shook it unsteadily. "You and I are supposed to marry."

"M-marry? I thought Papa was just joking when he said I had to marry someone!" Maka cried.

"He never told you that you have to marry me? How strange." He began to fiddle around with his bowtie now.

"H-how did this happen? Since when am I supposed to marry you?" He recalled what her Papa had said earlier- that he asked if she would marry someone for her kingdom. But she didn't know that he was actually serious!

"In the meeting yesterday, they decided that it would be best if our kingdoms combined into one. Our marriage will seal this deal." He said it to her as if he was addressing a little toddler, and he was telling her what to do.

"So what happens now?"

"I guess I'm supposed to propose to you now."

He was about to get down on one knee, until Maka interrupted him. "Wait! It can't happen this fast! I…I can't do this!" Bolting out of the hall, she ran down the hall and past her father.

"Maka? Maka wait!" He called after her, but she was already outside. Maka ran into the topiary garden and past the beautiful formations of flowers and bushes. Right in the center of the garden was a small fountain and a rusted old bench that sat next to sit. Hopelessly plopping herself down on the bench, she leaned on her elbow and peered into the fountain at her own pitiful reflection rippling in the water.

A marriage? To this boy that she had never seen in her life? How could this happen to her? She pinned the blame on her father- _He_ let this happen to her; it was all _his_ fault.

"Maka!" Spirit ran towards his enraged daughter, who looked up at him in disgust.

"How could you do this to me!" Maka pushed away her father's outstretched arms and huffed away.

"Maka… I had no choice! Please, try to understand," he pleaded gently as he followed her from behind.

"Leave me alone!" Gaining much more of a distance, Maka sped off, away from her saddened father.

**OooooooooO**

She ran back into the castle and back down that long hallway, which led to the room that she and Kid were in. He was still standing there at the window with his hands in his pockets, waiting for Maka to return. When she finally entered the room, he asked, "Have you composed yourself now?" She nodded embarrassedly and came up to him.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I just needed to clear my head a little. But I'm ready now. For the sake of our kingdoms, Prince Kid, I will take your hand in marriage."


	2. The Princess's Decision

**A/N: There's no Crona in this Fanfic, sorry Crona. This is AU, so I guess Crona doesn't exist in this story because I couldn't find a place for him. **

* * *

"For the sake of our kingdoms, Prince Kid, I will take your hand in marriage."

"Wonderful," he said impatiently and got down on one knee.

"But!" She interrupted him as he was reaching in his pocket for the ring. "Only on one condition. We have to at least get to know each other first!" Maka's determined olive-green gaze met his hardened gold eyes.

"Then when do you want this marriage to happen?" He asked.

"Whenever the time is right. I can't just marry someone I just met."

"Very well then. I will ask the queen if we could put off the marriage for a while, and in that time we can 'get to know each other.'" Kid held his hands up and made quotation marks with both of his two fingers.

**OooooooooO**

The queen paced slowly in front of the throne, frustrated and flustered. "Postpone...? Why should we postpone it? You heard it yourself that we must end this war soon."

"Then tell the kingdoms that there will be marriage; the princess did not refuse me, but instead told me that she needed time to get to know me."

"Hm... This will not be able to stop the fighting."

"Yes it will; just telling them will hopefully be enough to stop their fighting. And also, if you have come to terms with King Spirit then we may be able to arrange some kind if agreement for the time of the wedding."

"Perhaps so..." Medusa trailed off in thought and stopped pacing. "We will try to arrange a time in the future to have the wedding, but in the mean time I will allow you to have some time together."

"Good. Hopefully she will be ready soon enough."'

**-2 YEARS LATER-**

He went out into the Albarn's garden with freshly pruned roses in his hands. Venturing though the endless rows of colorfully vibrant flowers and bushes, he scanned the area for her. In this early morning, the garden was a spectacular sight to see; flowers all around perked up towards the sun, as if just awakening from their nightly slumber, and butterflies of all kinds congregated near to their sweet-scented nectar. Hummingbirds (a rare sight to see) hovered over their petals, wings beating a hundred times per minute, sucking the sweet juice. It was he very definition of beauty; the thing that the Albarn Kingdom was known for, unlike the Gorgon's, who were noted for their abilities to reek havoc with magic and witchcraft and wizardry.

"Maka? Princess?" He hollered in the serene grace of the garden, but with no reply. "Where are you?" Kid peeked around the corner and approached the porcelain statue of the past king mounted in the dead-center of the garden like a regal guardian, watching and protecting the courtyard with a stone-like gaze. Still there was no sign of the princess anywhere, even though when Kid had walked into her castle look for her the maids had directed him to the garden. It is here every morning that she'd usually be- admiring the flowers, or reading a good hard-cover book on the bench near the statue.

He turned his attention to a sudden ruffle in the branches above his head. Placing the roses down carefully beside his foot he took a fighter's stance. "Who's there?" A deep growl came from his throat as he looked around. The rustling became louder as it approached him. Taking one cautious step backwards, Kid clenched his fists in front of him, poised for attack.

"Boo." A voice said right behind his head. A startled Kid swung around and saw her, hanging upside-down from a thick tree branch that jutted out on a slight angle. Maka gave him an upside-down grin and laughed.

"What are you doing up there? You know it's not very lady-like to be climbing trees." Kid composed himself and straightened out his suit again before picking the roses off the ground.

"I know, but the view up here is amazing! It's also a great place to read," she said and sat back up, patting the empty part of the branch. "Come on, I'll show you!" She held out her hand as Kid climbed, stopping every few seconds to calculate where to place his hands and to make sure his outfit didn't get wrinkled. Maka sighed as he took her hand cautiously, and she yanked him up. "See? Isn't it nice up here?"

"I suppose this view is very alluring to you," he said dismissively.

"Oh come on, Kid, cheer up," she said. "Everything is not always work."

"How can you be so relaxed when we are engaged already? There's so much to do! We have to plan the wedding, make the guest list, decorate-"

"I know...but can't you just chill for a moment? It's too early in the morning to be all riled up like this," Maka replied, leaning back a little with the book in her lap.

"We don't even know when the wedding is..." he continued to ramble until she took his hand.

"Just relax," she repeated calmly, weaving her fingers in between his.

"We can't keep procrastinating like this... And I don't think we can keep it It's already been 2 years since we've met. Medusa's extremely impatient, you know?"

"Yeah. But I just don't get why she wants us to be married so quickly. I mean, the fighting has stopped ever since they announced that we were getting married. Isn't that enough? I doubt there's anymore hostility towards the two kingdoms now."

"As the next generation of rulers, we also cannot go back on our words. Promising that we were going to be wed means that we have to be wed. What kind of example would we set if we didn't?" Kid grasped her left hand and held it against his, pressing their silver engagement rings together.

"I guess you're right," she sighed sadly. "But we can still have fun, right?"

"Even if it's not, I'm pretty sure you'll find a way," he ginned slightly. "I have something for you." Handing her the fresh roses, her face lit up happily.

"They're beautiful!" She exclaimed and sniffed their soft smell.

"Fresh from the Gorgon castle garden, though ours is not as nice-looking as yours."

"Thank you," Maka replied.

"Now... I think I must attend to the rest of my morning duties, so I will see you at lunch." Kid carefully slipped back down the tree the way he came, waved good-bye, and walked away. "Are you coming to the daily morning discussion with me today?"

"Nah!" She shouted back. "Why would I want to listen to a bunch of old people telling me what I should be doing for the rest of my life? Just tell them my usual thing- I'm doing my daily reading session and don't want to be disturbed!"

"You know you can't dodge these meetings forever!"

"It's not like anything interesting happens!"

"That's because nothing ever does happen." Maka laughed and blew him a kiss, which he caught and smiled back at her.

**OooooooooO**

The king and queen came into the meeting hall at the same time and took their seats at the opposite sides of the table. "Good morning, and welcome to this session. All of the other councilmen are not able to make it, I'm afraid. What might we discuss today, Queen Medusa?" Spirit asked, tapping his fingers boredly on the solid marble.

"What we have been discussing for the last two years! When will we finally have this marriage? My patience has been tested for too long." Medusa rose angrily and placed both her hands on the table.

"I told you, when Maka and Kid feel ready."

"Ready? They've been holding it off for two years now, and using the same excuses every time! It's time to end this; we will have the wedding in a month."

"A month, you say? There would be much more time needed to prepare for this momentous occasion..."

"If it must be done, then it must be done," she shrugged. "Excuses, excuses, Spirit. But the outcome will always be the same."

"Must we always rush things?"

"I feel as if Kid is ripe for this marriage; why, his eyes have even grown less cold."

Suddenly, the door creaks open behind Spirit. Kid stood in the doorway with his hands placed in his pocket and says, "Good morning, all."

"Where is the princess, Kid?" Medusa asked with her arms crossed, shooting him a deadly glare.

"She is, as I have stated many times, in the middle of her daily reading, and she does not want to be disturbed." Kid entered and closed the door slowly, taking a seat next to Medusa in the far side of the table.

"Ahem," Spirit cleared his throat and continued. "As we were saying, Medusa has suggested that we hold the wedding next month."

"Next month is too soon. There would be no time to prepare everything on time," Kid concluded quickly.

"See? That's what I said!" Spirit chimed in with a high-pitched squeak.

"How old are you? Twelve?!" Medusa scolded Spirit, who was obviously a grown man. "Can we compromise then?"

"How about the month after next?"

"Fine!" Medusa waved her hand dismissively at the idea.

**OooooooooO**

She combed her hair for the last time, making sure that nothing was sticking up or out of place and then set down the brush on the dresser. Maka looked up into the mirror and glanced at her own reflection. It was a morning like any other, starting with her waking up early and grabbing a good book to read out in the garden. Then, after she had made decent progress with it, Kid would pay her a visit and they would spend some time together. After that, her friends since childhood, Liz and Patty, would hang out at the castle and talk. "Princess! Are you finished yet?" Liz asked impatiently. "It's tea time."

"Coming!" Maka made her last adjustments and ran out the door to her friends, who were sitting at the dinning table near the window, their usual spot. Liz and Patty always matched their outfits, wearing different matches everyday. On this day, they wore a light blue gown matching blue heels.

Patty, even though she was sixteen now, was toying with her little stufed giraffe that Maka helped her make when they were little. Her almost twin sister sat next to her and smirked at Maka. "Let's get down to buisness already! I'm bored."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I've been reading this good book and-"

"Yeah, yeah very interesting. Now what about some more important things; how is the prince? Is he treating you well?"

"He treats me fine, thank you very much. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, uh...'cause I just wanna make sure that's he's being a good husband. 'Cause if he's not, we'll make sure he is," she winked at Patty.

"Haha. Very funny," Maka said dryly. "But thanks for the offer."

"No worries, Maka. We got your back! We owe our lives to you, after all. If you hadn't found us playing in the street all alone long ago when we were all kids, Patty and I would probably be still wallowng in that same dirt that our mother left us in."

"Liz, I told you, you don't need to me mention it," Maka blushed.

"Seriously, thanks to you and the castle they adopted us and let us live here, since our mom abandoned us," she continued. The door opened suddenly, and one the maids rushed in. Marie, one of Maka's personal maids who usually helped her groom herself for special occasions, bowed in front of the tea table and greeted the.

"I have wonderful news for the princess from the king," she exclaimed.

"From Papa? Ugh, you know how I feel about him after what he did," Maka said in disgust, remembering how her father betrayed her.

"I know, but this is important. It's about the wedding; they have decided when it will be held!" Marie said cheerfully.

"When will it be?"

"The month after next! There will be so much to do! Well, that's all I have to say for now, carry on!" Marie rushed away again.

"Next next month? That's so soon!" Patty laughed.

"Too soon, if you ask me..." Maka answered with a disappointed tone.

"Whaddya mean?!" Liz scolded. "If I were you, I'd be really happy marrying someone like Kid! He's really handsome, and nice... and erm, you two make a cute couple!"

"I like Kid, but I don't actually want to marry him!"

"Why not? He's like the perfect lover!" She insisted.

"I know...but I just don't love him. And I don't think he loves me either, but we have to pretend to. I don't want to pretend to love someone! Sometimes I just wanna run away from this whole marriage thing, but I know I have to; it's my duty!"

"Really? You really want to run away from all this?" Liz motioned to everything around her. "It's perfect here!"

"Though I'm not denying that it's a nice life here...I still feel as if it were a prison."

**OooooooooO**

Maka laid sadly on her giant bed, pulling the covers up to her cheeks. She gazed up at the ceiling, which was painted with all kinds of designs, but at night were a grey, monotone color. Thinking hard about the news she heard today, she tried to imagine if her life were different. Right now, she wanted to be anything else but the princess of the Albarn Kingdom, destined to marry the prince of the Gorgon Kingdom- a prince that she did not want to marry. All this time she had known that she would have to one day be wed to him, but it never occured to her that it would be happening so soon.

Was there any way to escape her fate? she wondered.

_'Sometimes I just wanna run away from this whole marriage thing.'_

It was a plausible idea, and not a bad one, either. _It had been a long time since the announcement that the Albarns and Gorgons fought each other; this war is long over. Kid doesn't actually love me, and I don't love him back, so I wouldn't be hurting him at all. I already hate my father, too._ The more she thought about it, the more reasonable and realistic it became.

_So it's decided,_ Maka thought. _In the next few days, Princess Maka Albarn will disappear. _


	3. Farewell, Princess Maka

"Good morning, princess!" The guards hailed her as soon as she pushed her way through the double doors, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Morning..." she muttered and slinked off to her luxurious bathroom.

"Hiya!" The overly excited Miss Marie walks in with a hot cup of tea balancing on her tray, her smile beaming at tired Maka. "I brought you your daily tea, Princess Maka."

Thankfully reaching over and accepting the small cup of scoldingly hot mildly-sweet tea, she sipped it down until not a drop was left, and continued on with her morning ritual while Marie rambled on about her when she was a child. Maka only replied with absent nods once in a while, then meticulously put her loose ash-blonde strands of hair into pigtails, one on each side of her head.

She made her way down the path of her courtyard with the slight breeze flowing in her pigtails and the chirping of the birds filling the air with a lively hum. Dawdling in her half-minded state, she stopped at each flower to admire its subtle beauty before taking her seat right in front of the fountain, with her favorite hard-cover book. She knew Kid would be coming soon enough, so there wasn't much time to mind more important things; when, how, and where would she run away to?

Formulating the plan would be easy if her father wasn't such a worry wart and allowed her to do anything she pleased. Her life would be so much more enjoyable, she though sadly. Maka opened her book to a random page and stared at it blankly. Later this evening, she decided, she would do it. It was time to gather supplies and plot her route out.

She knew that it was selfish of her, running away from home just because she did not want to marry someone and abandoning her father and her kingdom. But she also knew that the war had already ended a long time ago and there was no need to fight anymore. So why should she suffer when there was no reason to?

"Maka!" Kid called out to her all the way from the other side of the garden. "I have some great news. We must go to the meeting hall at once to discuss it."

Maka got up from the bench as Kid approached her, asking if his suit was in pristine condition, and said, "I know what it is already. The marriage is in a month."

"Isn't his exciting news?" He asked without even the slightest hint of excitement.

"Yeah. Wonderful," she said sourly.

"Come with me to the meeting hall to discuss the plans with your father and the queen." Kid took her hand gently and guided her away from the garden, leaving her book and her ideas behind them.

* * *

"So how's Kid?"

"You ask that every time we get together."

"I know...but I just wanna know!" Liz insisted.

"Sis, it's not good to ask about Kid, especially if it's Maka you're asking!" Patty chimed in innocently.

"Oh, sorry! I forgot. Sensitive topic."

"It's okay, I don't really care anymore," Maka said sadly. "I'm just sick of it all, that's it."

"Sick of what?" Asked Liz.

"Of everything. Of marriage talk, of Kid, of having my life ruled by my stupid dad."

"But you're not sick of us, right?" Patty asked sadly.

Maka smiled at the both of them. "Of course not. And I'll never be sick of you guys. But this might be the last time we see each other..."

"What?!" They cried in unison.

"What are you talking about?!" Liz demanded. "Is this about the whole 'I'm gonna run away' thing? 'Cause I thought you were joking when you said that -"

"I wasn't joking about running away. I told you, I can't stand being here anymore. It's not you guys, it's just...I can't marry Kid. It doesn't feel right." Maka's expression darkened to the shock of her two best friends who have been together ever since they were young.

"So you're just gonna leave? Just like that?!" Patty said worriedly, small tears starting to form on the corner of her eyes. "But you can't leave!"

"Please don't cry..." Maka begged softly. "It'll only make it harder to leave..."

Patty sniveled, doing her best to hold back her tears. "But I don't want Maka to leave!" She cried, even bringing Maka close to crying.

"Well..." Liz interrupted solemnly. "If that's what Maka wants, then we can't do anything else but help her."

"Liz..." Her voice trailed off guiltily. Liz grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into a tight hug along with Patty.

"Aww! I'm gonna miss you so much! You're like the little sister I never had!" She cried and squeezed her tighter.

"Hey! I'm right here, too!" Patty yelled.

* * *

She made sure she had everything for the trip: her hooded black trench coat, some money, her tiara (just in case she needed to solve something diplomatic-style), a map of the region, and a small bag of valuables (valuable to her, at least). Maka laid down on her bed, knowing that she would lay down on this bed for the last time, and closed her eyes. But she made sure she didn't fall asleep. Because in the middle of the night, while everyone would sleep, the no-longer princess would sneak out the front gate quietly and never to be seen again.

"I'm sorry, Kid..." she murmurs while staring emptily at the ceiling of her bedroom, thinking about all of the things and people she would have to leave behind. Although she knew that now would not be the time to regret.

Kid was not a bad person. Despite his over-cleanliness and ability to turn into prissy little girl sometimes, he was not a bad person. Maka never disliked him; she even found him amusing at times. Her only regret was that she would leave him without saying 'goodbye,' even regretting not saying farewell to her father, despite the fact that he was annoyingly over protective and controlling.

When she was sure that all the lights in her castle at been turned off, and everyone, including the guards who dedicated their lives to protecting her, had gone to sleep, Maka rose slowly from her bed. She tucked some pillows under to covers to match her shape, then tiptoed to her closet where all her stuff was prepared. Fastening the button on her trench coat, she pulled the hood over her head and grabbed the rest of her stuff.

The door to her room creaked open slowly, and Maka's head peekd out of the small opening, looking both ways to make sure that no one was around. She chose not to wear her boots in fear that the noise they would make while stepping around would echo throughout the hallways. She tiptoed barefoot down the granite steps of the stairs, which led down into the wooden door entrance to the house. There, she finally squeezed her old, tattered but reliable boots on and looked around once more for any sign of life. Only silence filled the air.

"Psst! Maka!" A voice hissed through the darkness so suddenly it almost made her jump.

"Liz?" She answered back quietly. Out of the darkness walked Liz and Patty, who had promised that they would help Maka before she left. Maka ran to them and gave both a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"We just came to see our little princess off," she smirked. "Let's open the gate for you."

With every metal creek of the old and rusty grating that was the Albarn Kingdom's gate, Maka cringed and prayed, hoping that no one would hear. Once they had made their way across the bridge and over the moat, Liz and Patty stopped right in front of the kingdom doors to say their last goodbyes. "Thank you for everything," Maka said graciously.

"No problem; think of it this way: I get to keep Kid all to myself now!" She laughed.

Maka chuckled with relief. "At least he won't be lonely anymore without me."

She looked at her friends approvingly, and waved one last goodbye to them before heading out into the world unknown.

And not once did she turn around to look back.

"Farewell, Princess Maka!" Patty called to her as her figure faded into the dark of the night.

* * *

Even thought the streets were barely lit up with small dim candles during the night, the town was lively with drunken roars from the men in various pubs and the sweet smell of bakery bread just out of the oven that could make anyone's mouth water. Maka passed the many houses, whose windows were darkened and doors sealed shut, clutching her coat near her face in case anyone recognized her. She snuck through an alley and out onto the streets of the other side of the town - a completely different side that was almost deserted except for a few night prowlers and the homeless. _Looking for helpless little girls like me,_ she thought suspiciously, watching carefully where she tread next and holding her valuables closer to her body.

She reached up to gently feel her tiara atop her head to make sure it didn't magically disappear. A sudden rattle in the nearby alley startled her, and she drew back. "Food...water...?" A raspy voice echoes in the small unlit passageway, approaching her with every step.

Maka lets out a small gasp as a straggly and dirty old man reached out his hand towards her, begging for food and water and money. "I...um, sorry. I don't have any," she murmured and ran off into the distance. She snaked around a corner hastily and sighed with relief, continuing in with her journey that she had yet to accomplish. She wanted to leave the city as soon as possible because in the morning, the whole kingdom would be sent in a panic looking for their lost princess.

But there was one more stop that she had to make; a visit to one more old friend. Maka peered down into the small piece of paper with scrawled writing and squinted in the dark, struggling to see what had been so messily written down as she walked on. "Oof!" she cried as she suddenly bumps into something unexpected again - a bunch of grimy men drunk out of their minds looming over her.

"Hey..." the large one says, looking down at her with his droopy eyes. "Look at this. What's a little girly like you doin' here this late at night? Aren't suppossssse to be home now?" Maka covered her face, for his breath reeked of alcohol. The two other men around him gathered around her, blocking her way from the other side.

"Step aside," she commanded them. "I need to get through. I have an important meeting with someone."

"Hahaha..." another one said. He attempted to put his large heavy hand on her shoulder, which she slapped away disgustedly. "Why don'tcha' come wit us instead, little lady? We'll show ya a good time."

"I _said_ step aside," she glared, her voice becoming more intense and serious.

"Aha! This one's a feisty one!" the third one, short and fat, chimed in. The other thugs began to laugh drunkenly with him, and Maka finally took her chance to get through.

She gave one shove through a small gap formed by their big meaty arms, which gave way to her skinny little body surprisingly easily, to the mens' dismay. "Stupid commoners!" She screamed and ran off with the men trying to catch up to her, shouting a chorus of insults and taunts.

Once she was away, she huffily patted herself down and adjusted the tiara on her head, hoping that she would never had to be treated with such disrespect again. But then again, she thought, this is the common world. People are treated differently here, aren't they? That was something she had been taught in the castle. After fixing herself up Maka made her way down the street, almost towards her last destination.

* * *

"Time to eat!" The girl said happily as she put down the steaming bowl of her specially made soup in front of his face.

"Finally! I'm freakin' starving!" He shouted and immediately began to dig his face into the bowl, with no regard to the spoon next on the table in front of his face. She watched with a smile on her face as her homemade food was devoured in one gulp and fetched another one, knowing that he would eventually eat the whole bowl if he had too.

"Don't worry," she reassured. "I made enough to feed a whole army, so take it slow." As if interrupting on cue, the door knocks loud enough to stop the boy from taking one more sip. "I'll get it," she told him and went over to the door.

Upon opening the door, the girl gasped at her guest. "M-Maka...?"

"Tsubaki, it's been to long," the princess said wearily.

"Yeah, no kidding! It's been years now! You've grown so much..." Tsubaki grabs her into a hug, telling her to come inside.

"Um...am I missing something?" The boy at the table who had been swallowing his soup stopped to stare at them.

"Oh, sorry...I just got caught up in the moment, BlackStar. I'd like to introduce you to Maka Albarn, she's the princess of this kingdom."

BlackStar nearly spit-takes out all of his soup out as his jaw drops. "Princess?! You never told me you knew the princess!"

"And she's my childhood friend," Maka adds in.

"How did you guys meet?"

"Our family used to do business together," Tsubaki said pleasantly. "It's kind of a long story..."

"Pleased to meet you," Maka said politely holding out her hand for him to shake.

"And you're just in time for dinner! I know it's late, but you're welcome to join us!" She guides Maka to the table and retrieves another helping of soup. "And if you're wondering why we're eating so late, it's just that we work and we never have time for supper."

"Tsubaki, I can't thank you enough for doing this," said Maka.

"Oh, stop being so courteous just because you're the princess! Stop being princess-y and come sit down with us!" She offered Maka a tired smile as she takes her seat next to BlackStar already attacking his food. The princess didn't care about eating so late; she accepted her food gratefully and ate with them, even though she wasn't really that hungry. She was just glad that she got to sit down with them like she was a part of an actual family, considering the large amount of times she sat down in the empty dinning room table eating alone since her father had a whole kingdom to attend to.

* * *

King Spirit paced around the room nervously after hearing that his daughter was not in her room in the middle of the night, and that she was not in the courtyard or the dinning room or in the library reading where she'd normally be. "Maybe she's just being mischievous again," Kid suggested after yawning.

"No...my little Maka may be a little on the playful side, but she'd never be out this late or not in her usual spot! What if she got kidnapped? Or worse?"

The door to the Albarn throne room barged open with twenty of the guards standing at the entrance. "Sir! We did not find the princess in her room, in the castle, or in the courtyard!" One shouted above the others.

"She was not in any of the bathrooms!"

"Or in the garden!"

"Or in the library!"

"Enough! Twenty men, Kid, and I will go out into the town now and search for her. Everyone else will continue to search here! Are we clear?" The king shouted his commands.

"Yessir!"

"Round the horses; tonight we search the town up and down through every nook and cranny and in every crack for her!"

"Right away, sir!" The men marched away to gather up the horses and the maids kept searching in the castle for her, but there was still no sign of the princess.

"We will not stop until dawn to find her!" Spirit shouted once more. "Come, Prince Kid. We have to find her now!"

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for such a late update, I kinda went all-out in my other stories and put off this one for a little while. So anyways, my school starts on Tuesday and as you know I won't have enough time for my work, so please be patient with my late updates. But I promise that I will try to keep going. Thanks for reading, please leave a review!**

**~Silverbunni712**


	4. A New Adventure

** A/N: I apologize for the many grammar mistakes and really bad spelling! I'm kinda in a rush to finish as much as I can right now before school starts ;P. Please enjoy~**

* * *

"But...why Maka? Why would you run away now?" Tsubaki asks her as she prepares an extra bed.

"I know, I have everything that I could ever want. I'm also engaged to this prince. His name is Kid, and he's from the Gorgon Kingdom. He's Queen Medusa's step-son. The Albarn Kingdom and the Gorgon Kingdom have always wanted to unite into one kingdom. It will be the most powerful kingdom in the region. Our marriage will seal the deal," Maka said sadly. "I want to please my people. I want to make them happy and help them create a peaceful society," she said, walking slowly towards the window. "But as much as I want my people to be happy...I just can't marry him. It doesn't feel right... And besides! The war is long over. Ever since the announcement of our marriage, people all over have stopped fighting. Even if the marriage is called off, I doubt there will be anymore. I mean, they've been fighting for over 300 years!"

"Oh. I understand, Maka. If you want to escape for a while so you make your decision, then it's fine!" Maka was surprised at her friend's willingness to understand her.

"I never said I was gonna come back." She turned to face her heartbroken friend.

"Okay. As your best friend, and your advisor, I support you decision but...where are you planning to go? What will you do now?"

Maka frowned. "I don't know. Maybe I'll just roam around until I find what I'm looking for."

"Do you know what you're looking for?"

"Nope," Maka said confidently. Tsubaki smiled.

"Alright then...I've prepared a bed for you here," she said and observed BlackStar in the other bed snoring loudly.

Maka took of her coat and quietly thanked her friend for everything again, and let her tired eyes slide shut while she laid down. It wasn't an exactly her castle-type comfortable bed of satin sheets and cotton pillows, but it was good enough for her weary self until she'd depart in the early morning to start her quest.

During hazy summer night times, Tsubaki had always appreciated the rhythmically steady chirp of the crickets and the soft rustle of leaves from the humid breeze. She'd listen to them, lying awake in her bed for a while before she went to sleep.

But on this particular night, the air was no longer filled with the subtle sound of nature, but the sharp cry of the castle guards and the whinnies of horses, searching desperately to find the princess. She watched from her window as a small group of men on horseback enter every house, then move on to the next ones. Running over to the beds, she shakes the lost princess awake and they both go to the window to see the commotion outside. Maka stares in horror as she sees her father, the king, and her soon-to-be hubby riding down the street side-by-side, shouting orders at the men to "find her at all costs!"

"T-they found out that I had run away so quickly?! But how...?" She begins to pace the room worriedly as they approach closer. Tsubaki glanced at her friend's frightened face and realized how serious she was about running.

"No they won't. Come with me!" Leading her to the back of the house, they stop in front of a wall that was covered in cobwebs and dust. Maka watches as Tsubaki blows off the dust and wipes away the cobwebs with her hands. Under the dust and dirt, there is a small window that opened to the outside. "It's a secret escape route!"

"Um, not to be rude or anything, but it's just a window that leads to the back of the house," Maka points out.

"Yeah! But it's the only way you can get out of here without being seen!" She opens it. The voices get closer. "Maka..." she hugs her tight again. "I hope you find what you're looking for!" They let go. Grabbing the last of her supplies for the trip, Maka put her trench coat back on and once again pulls the hood over her head, obscuring her face from anyone who tried to look, and climbed out of the window to the back of the cottage. She looked around and saw that it was directly next to the deep forest she was planning to travel through. _Perfect_, she thought.

"I'm truly grateful for your hospitality. I hope we can meet again someday!"

There is a knock at the door and a voice that called "Hello? Is anyone there? We are searching for Princess Maka! Please open up at once!"

"Farewell...Princess..." Tsubaki whispers as she watches Maka run off into the distance. As soon as she disappears from sight, she closed the window and nudged BlackStar up. "Coming!" She shouted towards the door.

* * *

Maka ran without once glancing behind her shoulder, leaning on the hopes that if she kept running she'd probably get away sooner or later, or the horses would not be able to get through the thick shrubs and they would have to turn back. She ran until her already-tired legs could not carry her own body weight anymore and each breath became painfully heavy. Her dress was ripped and shredded from constantly snagging in the thorn bushes and low-lying branches and trees. She cried out in pain every time her ankles got caught in the messy tangle of vines on the forest floor, but pushed onward until the voices were safely distant and their candle lights could no longer be seen.

Stopping in a small clearing to catch her breaths, she collapsed on the floor from her wobbly knees and pulled the hood of her head. She looked around, observing that she was completely lost in the surrounding in trees and took out her map. The forest was not that big in terms of area, so she decided she would keep going through until she reached the end.

Brushing the mud and dirt and leaves off her dress, she gather her wits and left the clearing, staring at the map intensely while she did.

There was the occasional movements in the nearby bushes but she didn't acknowledge them soon enough to realize they had followed her.

"Well, well, well, if it ain't that lively little lady we met in the town," the thugs from before grinned down on her as she crashed into them in the middle of the woods.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

"You actually though we'd lose our chance to catch a glimpse of the princess?" The skinny one smirks.

"How did you know that I was the princess?!" She drew back and prepared to put up a fight, using the self-defense moves that the castle had trained her with.

The three men exchange glances and the small fat one says, "Heh, we didn't know at first, but as soon as we saw a bunch 'a those guards around searchin' for a runaway princess, we knew it was you. And we knew where you went, too. So we took the liberty of followin' you to your little friend's house and waited here, just in case we got a change to snag ourselves a lost little royal girl." He staggered at bit before steadying himself as he stepped toward her, a sign that anyone could tell that he was still slightly drunk. It could work to her advantage; even three beefy and intimidating drunk thugs stood no chance against a frightened teenage girl who still had her bearings.

"I wonder what kind of money a kingdom would pay for a princess? Your daddy has a lotta money, right?" The tall and lanky thug chuckled at her and glanced at the others. They nodded in agreement and stepped towards her cautiously. "Why don't we find out!" He roared and lashed out to grab her. But being the agile girl she was, Maka ducked before he could even touch her and tried to run past them like last time.

"Where do ya think you're goin'?" They shouted at her. She felt a large, sweaty and grimy hand snatch her wrist and pull her back towards them.

"Unhand me you jerk!" She shouted at them, struggling to get her wrist free from his grip. "Let go! Help! Somebody help me - mph!"

He used his other hand to clamp it over her mouth. "Sh! No screaming is allowed now..." the thug hissed in the struggling girl's ear. "OWW!" He yelped, feeling the sharp pain of her teeth penetrating the soft skin of his finger.

As soon as she felt his grip loosen, she ripped herself from him and sprinted off into the distance, leaving the men shocked for a moment. "G-get her, dammit!"

Maka ran as fast as her feet could carry her but she was already at her limit. Tired and fatigued, she haphazardly tripped over more bushes than before, and each branch she passed slapped her body painfully. She could hear the shouts of the men behind her clear as day. "Ack!" she cries as her ankle gets caught on one of the vines, and she tumbles downward into a muddy ditch.

"Where the hell is she?"

"I think she went over here!"

"Lets go this way!"

Her whole body was racked with pain and refused to move. Laying down face-first in the mud, she glanced up at the starry sky, which had started to become dark with rain clouds. Thunder echoed in the distance as it began to pour, and flashes of lightning lit up the air, illuminating everything for only split seconds at a time. Maka tried to force herself to rise, but her injured ankle gave out below her and she ended up being in the same spot as before - lying down, immobile in the muck.

"She's down here!" At the top of the hill stood the three men, grinning at her fallen body in the middle of the ditch like a sitting duck. "Heh! We gotcha now little girl." They were closing in on her now. She could hear their footsteps squish louder and louder in the in the mud as they got closer. Squeezing her eyes shut, Maka prepared herself for the worst, and succumbed to her fate.

"Time to come with us..." one growled.

Suddenly, Maka heard the sharp clang of a metal object, and one thug slumped to the floor unconscious. The others were bewildered. "What the hell?! Where did that come from?" On the other side of the ditch stood another figure, but small and shorter than them. They growled and snarled at it, shouting their insults and threatening it.

The figure did not falter. "Harassing a girl like that is not cool," it said. Maka peered up at her savior, only getting a small glimpse of him through the quick flashes of lightning. His piercing crimson stare. His snow-white spiky hair. The smudge of dirt on the cheek of his tan white face. "Leave her alone," he said sternly, his jaws taut.

"How dare you mess wit us! We'll show you!" He growled at him. "I'll handle this guy! You get the girl!" he barks.

The skinny man loomed over Maka, grinning like an idiot, while the muscular and short fat man approached the boy dangerously. The boy reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a long metal stick. Maka realizes that he had thrown one of those things to knock out the thug, and her eyes dart around to find where it had landed - right in front of her in the mud. "C'mere girly," the skinny thug reached down to lift her up, but she gripped the metal bar and smashed it into the top of his head with a fury. "OUCH!" he cried and collapsed on top of the other man on the ground. While the boy fought with the other, she rose off the ground with all of the pain surging through her body again.

Every swing that the thug took at him he dodged skillfully. Counter-attacking and using the bar as his shield he swings it at him, but the impact does no damage. Growling with frustration at him, the thug launches himself at him and tackled him to the ground. The boy yelps as he pins him to the ground and raises back his large fist. "Now I got ya!" Just before he could land the punch, Maka swings the crowbar right into the center of his back. "DAMMIT!" He roars. "STUPID BRAT!" He takes a slug at the girl, who blocks it with her weapon. But the force is so strong that flings her backwards into the ditch. Maka's back hits the side of the pit with an impact that knocks the wind out of her and sends her spiraling into unconsciousness.

"Hey!" the boy shouts at him, still pinned to the ground by his heavy body. Reaching over to the ground nearby, he feels for his weapon, and finds it covered in mud next to him.

"Now you die!" The thug draws back his fist again to deal the final blow, but he is quicker. He brings up the crowbar with all his might into the side of the man's face.

With the battle finally over, the last thug falls to the ground, knocked out like the rest of them. He breathes a sigh of relief, feeling the rain trickle down his cheek, and spots the girl also knocked out. The hood of her ripped up trench coat had fallen over her face. He walked over to her and lifted the hood. A blast of thunder shook the ground with flashes of lightning as the rain intensified around them. He looked around, but there is no one else but the fallen thugs.

_I can't just leave her here,_ he thought. Scooping sleeping Maka up, he carries her up the ditch and away, deeper into the woods.

* * *

**A/N: Well, you wanted Soul? *cough* XSeeYouAtYourDoomX *cough* You got him, lol. Leave a review!**

**~Silverbunni712**


	5. The Place to Call Home

All she knew was that it was dark. Maka woke to the musty scent of a combination coal and smoke and could hear the gentle crackle of a small fire nearby. She felt herself lying down, running her hand on the rough and scratchy surface of the sheets covering the bottom half of her body, and reaching up to feel the solid pillow that caressed her head. Her whole body ached, especially her head, which felt like a cement block had been dropped on it. But she could not feel her tiara. Maybe, she thought, she had lost it in the woods somehow.

Maka's eyes slowly open and adjust to the dimly lit room. Turning her head to the side, she saw that the whole room was made out of cobblestone bricks and was furnished with modestly small furniture items like a table and a small little desk. She noticed that the desk had many strange tools on it - a large hammer, a pair of metal tongs, and an axe. The tools of a blacksmith.

She lifted her sore head slightly and spotted a small fireplace, the source of light for the room. "Where...where am I...?" Maka murmurs in a hoarse whisper, reaching up to feel her forehead and finding that there was a gauze wrapped gently around it. Listening to the soft crumple of wood in the fireplace, she could hear a clang of metal outside the closed door of her room.

She forced herself upwards, despite all the pain, and gingerly set the tips of her toes down on the cold wooden floor. Maka groaned as she took her first step, using the bed to steady herself and the table as her guide to the door. Another clang startled her before she turned the knob as she heard the mystery boy curse to himself. She turned the knob carefully and quietly, then peeked out of the side. All the way across the room, she saw him, welding a piece of metal with another on a rustled black old anvil near another fireplace.

Maka knew that the boy she had seen in the wood was not a dream. His bleach-white and ridiculously pointy hair went in every direction except down, and a large black apron that went down to his dirty boots wrapped around his waist. He wore a red linen shirt riddled with tiny holes, and his pants were pure black like his apron. "H-hello?" Maka said unsteadily.

The boy turns around. His hardened yet gentle gaze, as red as the embers that glowed in the fireplace, met hers for the first time. "Good. You're awake," he said calmly, his voice a deep and soothing rumble. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, which left a blackened streak mark of coal across his head.

"Who are you?" Maka asked cautiously, taking small steps toward him. "And where are we?"

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked, letting go of his work and taking off his apron.

"Uh...yeah...I think I'll manage," she responded softly and felt the bandage around her head.

"That's good," he offered a slight smile and peered gently into the fireplace before continuing. "Sorry for the awkward introduction. My name is Soul Eater?"

Soul Eater? Maka tilted her head to the side skeptically. "My name is Maka Al -" she stopped herself.

"What? Did you hit your head too hard and get amnesia?" He asked.

"Wait...you don't recognize who I am?" She answered cautiously.

"Why? Am I supposed to?"

"Umm...no! I'm sorry, I just got confused for a second. My name is Maka...Maka Nakatsukasa," she blurted out. "Uh, where are we anyways?"

"This is my house. I'm a blacksmith who lives deep in this forest, away from the town. Speaking of which...what's a little girl like you doing there that late at night?"

"I ran away from home," she said sadly. "My papa was trying to force me to marry someone that I didn't want to marry."

"Hmph. So you have daddy problems like me?"

Maka laughed. "I guess so."

"When my mother left us, my father stopped giving a damn; he was useless," Soul chuckled sadly. "So I ran away. Started my own life out here, where no one ever bothers you. I became a blacksmith, just like my father."

"Hm..." Maka looked around and observed his collection of blacksmith tools. "Thanks anyways. Thanks for saving me. That was really brave of you," she blushed.

"You're welcome." He yawned loudly and stretched. "Anyways...it's gonna be sunrise soon. Are you hungry or anything?"

"No, I'm fine..." Maka's head became lighter, and her legs started to cave in. "I'm...fine..." Soul rushed over, dropping his apron to catch her.

She felt her arm land over his shoulder, and his firm hand land on her waist, supporting her. Maka was surprised how strong he was; how steady and muscular his body was from years of working, hauling the heavy hammer of a blacksmith over his head over and over again. She let herself rest on his firm and warm body as he guided her to the bedroom, where she sat and laid down again. "I think you need to rest a little more before getting up again," he said as he set her down gently. "You should sleep. I'm gonna walk to the town to get some food and supplies. I'll probably be back in the afternoon, okay?"

"Yeah...sure," she said weakly. "Thanks again."

He stood in the doorframe, staring cautiously at her, then set off into the semi-dark forest.

* * *

Spirit rode up and down the streets of the town, looking in every direction. "Have you found her yet?!" He yelled at some knights nearby. They shake their heads solemnly. "Where could she have gone?" He wonders to himself, and dwelled on the fact that Maka would turn up in the morning, reading her book in the garden as usual.

"Princess! Princess Maka!" Kid called from his horse, but he did not find anything either. "It's almost dawn," he murmured.

The twin sisters watched all of this from their castle window, Liz pacing around nervously while her ditzy sister stared in awe at the crowd of people searching. "Wow, Sis! They really wanna find Maka!" She exclaims happily.

"Oh no...this is bad...I hope they don't find the person who ratted her plan to them..." she muttered out.

"But we never told them! We promised we would never tell a soul about Maka running away!" Patty said in her grotesquely optimistic tone.

Yeah..but still. I feel guilty for knowing and not tellin' them."

"Okay, Sis. But I don't even know what you're so worried about!"

Liz skid to a stop on the glassy marble floor and ran up to her sister, staring her straight in the eye. "If they find her and drag her back here, who do ya think she'll blame for tattle-tailing on her! I don't care if we didn't actually did it! You can kiss our friendship good-bye!" She screamed in the most serious tone she could muster.

Patty's expression dampered in the slightest. "Oh...right. But you looked happy at first! I mean, you said that you get to keep Kid all to yourself and -"

"I was joking! I wasn't really happy; I just didn't want Maka to feel bad about leaving," she sighed with exasperation. "And the whole thing with Kid was also a joke, too."

"But you've always told me how much you liked Kid, even though he was gonna marry Maka!"

"Yeah...but I was also joking then. You know that Prince Kid would never stoop so low as to marry a simple street girl," she said sadly.

"We only used to be street girls, so he'll marry you now, won't he? Kid's not mean; Maka told us so! She told us that he was a kind person, even underneath all those silly habits of his!" Patty smiled cheerfully. "Oh! I know! You should tell him that you really like him, even though he might be sad from missing Maka and all, but that'll cheer him up!"

Liz's face flashed a bright red. "T-tell him?! Hahaha...P-Patty...you're so damn funny sometimes..." she stammered out.

"Aww, he's never gonna know if you don't tell him..."

"I'll never admit it, ya know? Let's just leave it alone for now..."

"Alright, Sis." Patty stared dreamily out the large glass window of the castle, leaning her elbows on the ledge and her hands caressing her cheeks. "I wonder...I wonder how Maka's doing right now. I hope she's okay."

"I hope so, too, Patty."

* * *

She laid down in the scratchy yet strangely comfortable bed, staring up at his unfamiliar ceiling made of soggy old logs that held up quite well from the battering rain, and closed her eyes to listen to the soft hum of rain drops hitting the house. What was she doing here? she wondered, after being saved by an odd-looking boy who just so happened to be around when she got attacked by those hooligans. Surely, this was no accident. No lucky coincidence. It had to be something more, like destiny or something.

It was no accident that she was laying down in a stranger's bed, about to pass out from fatigue. She knew it was wrong in a way, to feel so at-home when she was so far from it, or to be to comfy in the arms of a complete stranger, but it sure felt nice.

Maka's upper lip curled into a small smile as the room around her began to blur, and she fell into a deep, much-needed sleep.

"Hey..." The next time she blinked her eyes open, Soul loomed over her, staring with his intense crimson gaze. "Are you hungry now?" He asked quietly. "You've been sleeping for a while now. I was just wondering if you wanted anything to eat or something." Smelling the scent of something fresh hit her nose, her stomach growled loud enough to hear. She realized that she hadn't eaten for hours. Soul smirked. "Looks like you are starving. C'mon, let's get up." Maka hoisted herself up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Need help?" He offered his outstretched hand to her, but she refused.

"I think I'm okay now," she managed a smile.

"Good. 'Cause I'm starving, and it's breakfast time," he said, drool dripping from his mouth.

"Are you sure it's okay?" she asked out of courtesy.

"It's fine," he dismissed her with a waved hand. "I bought extra bread this time." Maka wandered out of the room with him, and was hit with a bright ray of sunshine that shone through the open door and windows. She shielded them for a moment, and adjusted to the harsh light. Soul handed her a fresh slice a bread. It smelled like the loaves that the cooks would make right when she woke up. "Here. Eat up."

"T-thanks..." she found herself blushing all over again. Maka was so used to being served by her servants, who catered to her every whim just because she was the princess. But now she was no longer a princess, just a normal teenage girl. She took a single bite out of the soft and warm bread, savoring the fresh taste like she would every morning after waking up in her old bed. Maybe her journey would have to wait a little while.

"I forgot to ask," he said with a mouthful of bread in his cheek pouch. "You said you were gonna run away or something. Where were you running to?"

Maka chewed down and swallowed a small chunk of bread before answering. "I was gonna go into the next town and hopefully start a living," she lied, because when she had left the castle that night, she had no idea where she could go.

"So you'd be just like me," he grinned at her. "I guess we're more alike than I thought." Maka smiled at him. _Except I'm royalty, _she thought.

"I guess so..." They bit down on their pieces in silence, Maka listening closely to the sounds of the shrill calls of the birds from outside. "I've never been this far away from home," she said sadly.

"You get used to it," he replied. "I did."

"But doesn't it get lonely once in a while?" she asked with the thought of her friends fresh in mind.

"Nah, I never had much friends anyways. Living here is the best I could wish for. I make money by going in to town sometimes and selling what I make here. I support myself, and I don't need anyone else to support me."

"Oh..." her voice trailed off in thought. How would she ever be able to support herself like he did? she thought. "Sounds like a hard life."

"It is," he chuckled sadly. But he face suddenly lights up with an idea. "Hey, how about I show you how a blacksmith works and everything? Like all the tools I've used and stuff."

"That sounds really interesting. I've always wondered how you make the things we use at the cas - I mean, house, whenever we get the chance to use them," she said nervously.

Soul reached over to grab his large apron and metal hammer. He handed to her, but she nearly fell over from the sheer weight of the metal in her hands. "Here. Hold it like this..." he said, guiding her hands to the spots of the handle where it would be steady to hold. Bringing her over to the anvil, he took the tongs and used it to hold a small shard of metal into the fire until it was consumed by a red-orange glow. Maka watched in awe as he set the molten hot metal in a bucket of water, a fierce cloud of sizzling steam rising out. When the thing was no longer hot he set it down on the anvil, still beyond scolding, and motioned to her holding the hammer. "Take a swing. As hard as you like," he said, stepping back for her.

At first the tool seemed impossible for her to even raise it over her head. In embarrassment, she lifted the hammer over her shoulder and felt the dead weight sink into her back, refusing the help of Soul. "Don't worry, I can do this..." she insisted as she unsteadily brought the heavy metal over her head and held it in the position that he had told her to. Swinging down with all her might, when metal smacked metal the whole impact shook her body, almost knocking the hammer out of her shaky hands. "H-how do you do this every time...?" She muttered, brushing off the puff of soot that had risen upon impact.

Soul steadied her hands and took it from her. "Practice," he said.

_Ugh, that made me look like a helpless little girl... _she thought, frustrated by her horrible display. "I hope you think that that was all I can do," she huffed.

Soul laughed. "Don't worry; An average girl wouldn't even be able to lift the thing over her head. And...you _did _hold off those thugs for me. That was pretty spunky, even from a little girl like you."

"I'm _not _a little girl! And what's 'spunky' supposed to mean?" He saw fiery determination light up her deep olive-green eyes.

"It means you've got guts. I like that," he shot a sharp-toothed smile at her, and her gaze softened. "You and me should stay together; I've always wanted a helper to help me out."

"H-help you? You mean, like, stay here and work with you? Like, live here?!"

"What else do you think I'm implying? Stay here, with me. Besides, you said that you wanted to have your own business on you're own, but trust me; it's harder to have something like that...especially someone like you," he shrugged.

"Are you tryin' to say something?!" Her eyes lit up again, more furious than ever. He liked that; he even thought it was kinda cute. "I am _not a _helpless little girl! I can handle things just as good as you can!"

"Fine, then. Stay here with me then. I'll teach you everything that I do," he smirked.

"Fine! I will - just to prove that I'm not some stupid little girl who can't take care of herself!"

"Never said that."

"You were implying it!"

"Believe whatever you feel like."

"Shut up!"

He let out another hearty chuckle. "Man, you really are something!"

Instead of an angry look, a blush streaked across her upset face as her cheeks puffed up. "Just teach me your blacksmith stuff so we can get it over with."

He leaned over closer to her, handing her the hammer again. "Let's get started then, shall we?"

* * *

**A/N: Once again, terribly sorry for the horrible grammar and spelling. This is the first update in a while since I've started school and I already have a crap-load of homework. Damn you, 10th grade. Damn you. The only upside being that I've joined a creative writing class that allows me to write to my heart's content.**

**~Silverbunni712**


	6. Mark of a Blacksmith

She reluctantly had to watch on the side as he swung the mallet down onto the anvil, creating a clash of sparks that bathed the room in a bright orange-yellow. After taking a few more swings just for measure, he took his tongs and dipped the glowing thing slowly into the bucket of cold water, examining the steam carefully through his black goggles as it rose. "There," he huffed, smearing the sweat and grime across his forehead with the back of his leathery glove, like he had done many times. "That's how you do it." He finished by setting the chunk of sizzling metal down on the craft table. Yanking the goggles off his head, his hair went in a frizzy frenzy from bearing the heat that even Maka felt from across the room. His cheeks were almost black now with the soot of the coal, but his shark-like grin was more noticeable than ever. Soul let out a cough and waved the steam away from his face, inhaling the nice cool air from outside his window. He ran his fingers through the tussled mess of white hair smothered in dirt. "How did you like my little lesson?" He asked her as she came over to the window to him.

"It was...interesting. I don't think I've ever seen anything that cool," she admitted.

"I just hope you're not afraid to get dirty," he sighed, offering his dusty glove hand to her. She snatched it fearlessly, even purposefully smudging the dirt on her cheeks too. He chuckled, slightly amused at her determination.

"Where do I sign up?" She jokingly asked.

"Whenever you feel like working," he said, reaching up to the ceiling and stretching out his sore back. "We can start later tonight. It's too hot out now."

Maka pulled out her handkerchief and handed to him. He snatched it and attempted to rub his blackened face, making her laugh when the smudge had only gotten bigger. "Here," she smiled and took the small cloth. "You're doing it wrong. Let me do it..." She leaned in closer to get a better look at the patch of dirt, and ran the handkerchief gently around his face. He didn't notice that he had begun to stare.

Soul watched her as she put her other hand on his shoulder to steady herself closer to his body, and stood on the tips of her booted toes to match him eye-level. While she was distracted by the little residue of coal bits on his forehead, he struggled to peels his eyes off her face. _It's not nice to stare,_ he had been taught. "Maka..." he clutched the hand on his face. "I think that's enough for now." She blushed an embarrassed blush and backed down away from him.

"Ah...s-sorry, I'm a bit of a neat freak," she said. _Thanks to Kid, mostly_, she finished her thought.

"It's fine. I...I think I have to get you the proper clothing of a blacksmith; you can't go around working in _that_," he said, pointed to her faded pink dress that was torn at the ends from the encounter in the woods, and her dirty mud-ridden boots that were beginning to tear at the seams. "The dress could catch on fire and the boots look like they're about to fall apart."

Maka peered down at her outfit. "Yeah. I don't suppose you have an extra pair of clothes for me?"

"Lucky for you, I have plenty...but they may not exactly fit, though."

"That's okay. I'd rather wear something that doesn't fit me well than catch on fire," she said and pulled at the rips in her pink ruffles. After Soul had brought out some of his old clothes, with a heavy apron and googles and thick boots included, she closed the door to his room and yanked the dress off.

The pants did not fit her at all; they drooped at the sides of her skinny little waist so much that he had to lend her a belt. Thankfully the boots were slightly big, but doable. She also knew that if she bent down too much the shirt would drape down her shoulders so she made the apron extra tight.

On the other side of the door, Soul waited for her. His eye caught the sight of her dress; it certainly was not an impressive one, but it was rare to find a dress of such details. He wondered where she could've gotten one, running his fingers across the delicate fabric made of satin. _Satin_. "Hey, Maka. Where did you get this dress?" He asked.

"Uh...my Papa bought it for me," she replied.

"Your Papa must be rich. The material that this is made out of is satin, which is extremely expensive, even for royalty." Behind the door, Maka froze.

"I...uh, it was a gift from a friend, he told me. From a friend," she chuckled nervously.

"Then you must have rich friends," he said.

"Y-yeah! My Papa knows the tailors for the kingdom; he does business with them sometimes. Y'know, like business and stuff," she said quickly.

"Sounds interesting."

"Not really." Maka finished pulling up the extremely loose pants and strapped the belt around herself tightly, then opened the door.

"You look fine," he said, urging her to fully come out of his room. "Maybe it's a bit too big...but it'll have to do. Unless you want to go to the town and buy some new clothes."

"No! I mean, we don't _have_ to go to the town; I could sew something to fit me," she insisted after she remembered that she had been quite avid at sewing back at the castle.

He shrugged. "Alright. Whatever you want. In the mean time, the first part of being a blacksmith is that you have to get the iron to work with. I usually walk down to the mines, not far from here, and dig up some ore. It's a dangerous job; I think you should just stay here -"

"And let you have all the fun?" She crossed her arms and shot him a glare. "I said that I'd stay here to help you, not sit here while you did all the dirty work."

He threw up his hands in submission. "Fine. But when you get hurt, it's not gonna be my fault."

"Let's go then!" He sighed and headed out the door with her trotting happily in front of him.

* * *

Kid's pristine black boots squeaked across the marble floor as he paced back and forth, his mind filled to the brink with worry, muttering to himself about weddings and responsibilities, waiting for the door to creak open and receive the news about what will happen next. Liz watched him stroll around and tried to calm the prince down, but he could not seem to relax even when she had offered him some tea. "Why aren't they done with their discussion yet?" He grit his teeth and squeezed his hands behind his back. "It's been 20 minutes already..."

Liz stopped him in his place and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Why don't you calm down with a nice hot cup of tea?" She asked impatiently and guided him over to their table. Patty laughed as she forcefully sat him down in their tiny little chair, his trembling hands tucked neatly in his lap and his golden eyes darting across the room. Liz pat his shoulder playfully. "Calm. Down."

Kid's shoulders loosened and dropped down and he let out an exasperated sigh. "Maka's gone...We could not locate her. But everything will be fine. Medusa will be furious though..." He lifted up the cup to his mouth, but did not take a sip.

"Maka's not gonna come back," Patty chimed in sadly. "She's gone for good."

"How would you know?" he asked, slightly agitated at her statement. "She probably just went out exploring and got lost in the woods...or she's playing hide-and-seek in the yard and we have yet to find her...or maybe -"

"Kid, just forget about it. We told you already; Maka is not coming home, she's long gone by now," Liz said.

"How do you know this, too?" He asked suspiciously.

"We're her friends. We'd know more about Maka than anybody else." Patty sipped her tea innocently as they exchanged glances. Soon enough, the door swung open to Miss Marie, who ran in on her pointed heels across the room to them with an urgent look.

"King Spirit has issued an alert in the kingdom. Now, the whole town will be searching for her. Rest assured, Prince Kid, we'll find her in due time!" She says excitedly and scoops the empty cups on her tray. "I'm sure the whole kingdom will be relieved when we do! Even if she is absent, the king and queen said that they will continue with the wedding plans and everything. That is all." She bowed and left the room.

* * *

Medusa waited until the foolish King Spirit had left her throne room. She leaned sourly on the arm rest of her chair and waited for her pet to slither across her arm and onto her lap. It hissed a purr as she gently stroked the top of its scaly head, coiling comfortably around her arm. "Don't worry, my dear. It won't be long now. Even though the runaway princess is a minor setback, I can still make this work to my advantage," she murmurs to it, staring at Maka smiling and walking from the grassy fields of the woods and into the mine through her crystal ball sitting upon the pedestal. Her dimly lit room brightened by the illumination of the glassy ball that seemed to follow the image of Maka wherever she walked. Medusa contemplated about her next move and leaned closer. "Stupid girl," she chuckled. "You think you can avoid fate by running from it? _I_ will be the one to decided whether you escape it or not, as well as your little boyfriend there," her chuckle turns into a wicked laugh. "The pieces of my plan are coming together nicely. Now I can take out two birds with one stone," she cackled, raising her hands. "_Nake snake...cobra cobra..."_ she chanted maliciously, her tone becoming lower. Her hands surged with electricity, which she directed at the wall across the room, blasting a sizable hole in the stone.

* * *

He raised the pickaxe over his head and drove it down into the rock wall until it gave away slowly, it's shine reflecting off their candle lights. "This -" he bent down and picked up a small piece"- is iron ore. But it's not iron. We have to harvest this to make the iron to make it into tools." He tosses it to her, and she catches it and throws it into the barrel. Maka looked around in the dark cave which was only lit up by their oil candles, and glances behind her. They were deep inside the mine already, a mine that Soul had to construct himself, and dig for iron ore by himself.

"It's a little stuffy in her, isn't it?" She asked.

"You get used to it," he said, straining his back from trying to carry a giant piece of ore that was simply too big to carry at all. He smashed it to pieces with the point of his pick axe and collected them. "I dug this mine with my own hands, you know?"

"Yeah, you told me already." Maka looked back out the small light of the entrance, longing for a breath of fresh open air. Instead, her lungs were filled with the nauseating scent of kerosene oil and iron ore, if iron ore even had a smell.

"Don't worry," he reassured her and handed her more rocks. "We're almost done for the day. Here, try mining this stuff." He throws her the pick axe and she nearly fumbles with it, barely managing to catch the wooden handle. "Just go over to the rock and swing, but try not to break the ore itself." Maka looked down at the pick axe and went over to the wall, where she centered herself over the rocks and raised the axe over her head. She brought it down smoothly, hitting the rocks off of the side in little chunks. "Good job. Now we only have to mine the whole rest of the cave," he mused as she shot him a glare.

Soul felt the ground rumble ever so slightly below his boots, and froze for a moment to look around the cave. Maka looked around too, completely startled. "Wha-what's that?!" She jumps back, and the ceiling above her starts to crumble down.

"Watch it!" He screams, snatching her writs and pulling the startled girl away from the falling rubble and into his arms. When the cave had finally settled down and the noises cease, he said, "I think I just saved your life again..." Maka sighs and lets go of his arms.

"Thanks for saving me," she reluctantly said. "_Again," _she mutters. Soul looks up at the ceiling cautiously and thinks about the risk of it falling on their heads again.

"I think we've collected enough ore to last us a couple of days," he says and pulls the wheelbarrow out from under the rocks. He thought that the mine was stable for now, so he packed up in silence and dragged the cart full of ore towards the entrance with Maka sullenly following behind him. "Are you okay?" He finally asks.

"Fine. Just fine," she answers unhappily, trudging from the back.

"Lemme guess, you _didn't _want me to save you just so you could prove yourself by getting crushed by those rocks," he said dryly.

"No!" she fumed.

"Then what is it then?"

"It's nothing. I said thanks already, didn't I?" The light of the entrance grew brighter as they approached. Even when Soul had thought that the cave had become stable, he felt it move under his feet again, shaking the wheelbarrow and its contents.

"Maka, run!" He shouted and sprinted for the small hint of light at the end of the cave as the ground shifted and trembled, nearly caving in where they stood. She ran not far behind him with the roaring sound of rocks and ground and dirt mashing together in her ears, and eventually caught up to his panicked speed. Ditching the ore in the oncoming wreck, him and Maka ran with all their might towards the opening of the cave with the rest of the quarry collapsing right behind.

"Soul!" She yelled above the uproar. He instinctively reached for her hands and clutched it tightly as they ran. Fearing that it would be too late to reach the light, Maka let her legs carry herself faster and faster. Faster than Soul was going. She suddenly noticed that the side of his part of the cave had also began to crumble as he approached the end. With the sound of the ruckus rushing in her ear and adrenaline pumping through her body, she propelled herself with one jump, ramming and knocking Soul out of the way of the falling rocks and out into the grass field of the woods.

Together they tumbled out on the mine and rolled across the field. Maka gasped the fresh air, landing on top of Soul. "I think..." he said in between his panting. "_You _just saved _my _life..." He choked out, sprawling his exhausted body out on the soft blanket of green, relaxing under her body.

"Yeah..." she also choked out in between large gulps of air. "I think it's about time..."

"Not bad..." he chuckled weakly. "Not bad at all..." Maka rolled over and flopped there on the ground next to him They laid there, sucking in heavy breaths, laughing about their close call and staring up at the blue sky dotted with clouds, happy to still be alive.

* * *

**A/N: Question: What actual fairy tale does this story most likely resemble? **

**'Cuz truthfully, even I have no idea. I'm just writing whatever comes to mind.**

**~Silverbunni712**


	7. The Beauty and the Beast

During that time, as seconds turned into minutes, which turned into hours, which turned into days, and finally realizing that she had been with Soul for a week now, Maka decided that she was happy. She finally learned what it felt like to not be confined by castle walls, to lay her head in a grassy pillow, to splash around in the mud and not worry about the muck soiling her dress, to climb long trees with jagged bark that she carelessly scraped her knees on, and to let her hair down into messy, tangled up loose strands of ash-blonde.

She learned how to raise the hammer over her head and guide it down, without the help of anyone else, and smash the molten iron below with deadly precision. With Soul by her side, she learned how to smudge her face proudly with the black of coal, accepting the mark of a blacksmith. But she was also taught that she could not leave behind every castle luxury. Like how there was only one scratchy little bed that they gave up on sharing, and took turns on who would sleep in it every night and who would sleep on the cold wooden floor. And how he didn't have an actual bath, so they both had to bathe in the nearby river. How Maka loathed the idea of bathing without soap.

"Don't tell me your gonna come in the water with _that_," he said after surfacing from the water and pointed to the outfit he had given her. "Unless, of course, you plan on drowning, 'cause that apron is really heavy."

She peered down at the water hesitantly with him in it, shirtless and unashamed. "I'm not afraid! I just don't wanna...y'know...take off my shirt in front of a guy..." She said nervously, setting her eyes on Soul's stomach muscles and built arms.

"It's not like I'm gonna peek at you while we're in the water," he chuckled. "I'll turn around or something." She took off the belt slowly and unravels the loosened pants, revealing her undergarments seen only by the back of his head, and untied her apron. He didn't turn around until she told him to, and her chest was fully submerged under the surface. "See?" He smirked. "It ain't so bad." Still covering the top of her modest bosom with crossed arms, she settled into the cold water slowly and undid her pigtails. Soul watched as her long wheat-colored hair draped down barely over her shoulders, a new look that he had never seen from her.

"Is this how you always take a bath?" She asked, interrupting his thoughts suddenly.

"Why? Is there something wrong with taking a nice, cold river bath?" He asked, and then playfully splashed some water on her.

She shivered with the cold hitting her face and splashed him back. He laughed, spitting out water and returned the favor. They spent the rest of the afternoon swimming around in the shallow river and water-fighting, until they eventually made it out to the middle, where the tips of their toes barely brushed the bottom, and where frogs made their homes on the countless lily pads and small fish darted around below the surface.

Soul motioned for her to wait at the top while he dived down for a moment, coming back up to breathe with something in his hand. He handed her an ornate shell, colored dark green with circular patterns on it with little sockets on the bottom. Maka yelped a little when she found a small reptilian snout poke out of the biggest hole, nearly dropping the shell into the river. "It's a river turtle," he said, taking the turtle and showing her how its arms and legs appeared out of the other sockets. "Isn't it cool?" She stares at it curiously; she'd never seen an animal like this around the castle.

"Turtle?" She asked, gently caressing the shell with the small little animal seemingly trapped within it, until Soul told her that the turtle's shell is its home. "It's so...weird. I don't think I've ever seen this before." She let it back down into the river and let go of the turtle and watched it swim away with outstretched webbed arms.

"Really? I've always thought turtles were common in this area." He pointed down, and the whole riverbed shifts alive with other turtles under their feet.

"I don't get around much," she admitted.

"I can see that," he chuckled.

* * *

King Spirit stood, facing the members of he council, his weary face evident of the guilt and sadness he felt. "I fear...I fear that my Princess Maka may not be coming back to us," he concluded sadly. "It has been a week, and the whole castle, including myself, are convinced that she will not return."

"Do you even know what happened to her, King Spirit?" One asks.

"No," he answers solemnly. "But I do think that my daughter is alive somewhere."

"How do you know for sure?"

"...I don't."

From across the table, Medusa watches with a glazed look of boredom in her eyes as the council hounds Spirit for answers.

"Everybody calm down, please," Spirit raises his hands. "We will find a way to solve this new problem."

"We need a princess for the marriage!" One says urgently.

"There's no way the Albarn Kingdom can make peace with the Gorgons without a princess!"

"What are we going to do?!"

Of course, foolish rumors and secret predictions on how and where their missing princess was were made up and spread faster than the plague itself:

"She's been kidnapped by some rogue bandits!"

"She was wandering in the woods, and then was attacked by a bear!"

"A spell was cast on her and she turned into an animal!"

None of which were even close to the truth.

On the other side of town, Kid does some searching of his own and walked around town. "Report," he orders a guard that had been escorting him around.

"Only the same things: no sign of the princess, and more residents reported missing throughout the kingdom. People from different regions, mostly ones that are located near the Albarn borders, are mysteriously disappearing, and no one knows why."

"That's not important right now. The thing that we have to focus on most is where she could be..." he trails off in thought, stopping to straighten his suit by patting it down.

"I'm sorry, Prince Kid, but there is still no luck in finding her. Us knights will pursue on, though. It was, and still is our duty to protect her at all costs," he answers strictly.

"Thank you. Please continue."

"Yessir. We will try to search the woods once again. But the last attempts have been unsuccessful. Where ever she is, she certainly is not in this area."

"In the mean time, I will be trying to gather information in the town. I think if Maka snuck out at night, someone was bound to see her," he says.

"You just might be correct about that notion, sir!" The guard says. "I will get the others to check throughout the woods, and this time, we are not coming back until we find her!"

* * *

Soul sighed, relaxing his back up against the hard stone of a rock in the middle of the river, feeling the soft and frozen current tug at his body. He saw Maka's head rise above the surface for a small breath after swimming around happily near the bottom along with the fishes. She noticed him and smiled at him, whipping her hair long hair backwards and out of her face. After she had swam over to him, he suggested, "Maybe we should head in now, or else we're gonna turn into prunes." They had been in the water for a few hours now, and the moon was beginning to rise over the trees with its illuminating glow. Maka peered down at her rippled reflection and Soul's, starting to shudder in the cold.

"Aw, but its so fun here," she exclaimed. "I've never swam like this before."

"Why haven't you done any of the normal things that people usually do? It's like you live in a bubble or something," he said wryly as she shook her hair free of water.

"If only that were true..." she mumbled sadly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...I guess I was very deprived as a child, that's what I mean," Maka said, realizing that before this time her life was quite pathetic; she'd never left the castle, did anything that would be considered unlady-like, or said anything out of line or opinionated because it would be "rebellious." But out here, it was different. She could say aloud what she wanted to say, whether it be insulting or endearing. She could roll around and wrestle with Soul in the mud, miss any meeting (if there were any at all) she wanted, and didn't care. She could curse loudly and not be scolded.

"You mean your dad never let you do _anything_?"

"Let's just say that he was extremely overprotective."

"What were you? A princess or something?" He mused, but stopped when he was only answered by Maka's silence.

"No," she said, her tone colder than the water that surrounded them. "I'm _not_ a princess." Soul drew back from her shockingly serious voice and rested back up against the rock.

"I was only _joking_," he said, in an attempt lighten the mood. "Don't tell me you actually took that seriously."

"I'm sorry." She sighed and turned around and shivered from the cold, to guilty about her actions to look at him. "It's just that I'm a little sad from missing home." He bit his lip and realized that he had made things awkward. He was never good with words.

"Don't worry," he said, his tone gentler now and placing a firm hand on her pale white shoulder. "You get used to it."

Maka, shocked at the strangely warm hand on her body, turned back around to face him. "You're so...warm," she said absently, more consumed by the fact that his gaze stared more intensely than ever, hotter than the ember coals of the fire he worked with. "What?" She finally asks a question that suddenly tears away his eyes for a moment to glance at the river water.

"Nothing," he answers curtly. "It's just that you're cute."

"Cute?!" She demands without actually asking anything.

"Yeah," he admits embarrassedly. "I think you're cute."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Her face flushed hotly with the color of red.

"Dunno," he shrugs. "I think you're cute. That's all. And you're blushing."

"Sh-shut up!"

"Why? Do you also not like being complimented?" Her blush grew even more, but her glare softened. She'd never liked been called cute, because to her, 'cute' was an equivalent to 'weak.'

"Just don't call me 'cute.' I hate it."

"Okay, then you're ugly."

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"But you said -"

"Never mind!" He loudly laughed, baring his sharp teeth at her. "Turn around!" She demanded as she ran out of the river, almost stark naked, to her clothes which hung limply on a tree branch. After she quickly pulled up the pants and draped the long shirt, long enough so that nothing could be seen underneath it, over her chest, she ordered him around again.

"Are you finished yet, _your highness_?" He smirked at her.

"You're probably gonna turn into a fish at this point," she pointed at him still in the water, and still half naked.

"Alright, alright. I'm gettin' out." Soul made his way towards her in his boxers and nothing else, making Maka stop and stare for a moment, almost to admire how truly muscular his body was as a whole. "You like what you see?" He said tauntingly, flexing his arms in front of her.

"Shut up," she flounced the opposite way from him.

"Maka."

"What?"

"You're blushing again."

"St-stop!" Maka bolted off the other way towards the house with the shirt clenched up against her body and her black pants nearly slipping of her waist, her face burning an embarrassing hue of red. She felt deeply struck by something that she could not explain: why would she blush so madly in front of a _boy_? Never even recalling a time where she blushed this much around Kid, she stomped inside the house and to the bedroom where she stripped off her dampened clothes and wiped down her wet body. She could hear Soul, he squeaky footsteps halting right outside the door.

"Hey, Maka! I hope you're not planning on hogging my bedroom 'cause it's my turn to sleep in the bed!" He called. His ignorance infuriated her. No, she decided it wasn't him that her anger was directed at, it was her lack of her own ability to understand what was happening to herself. Why and how did she feel so smitten around him? She was Maka Albarn. _Princess _Maka Albarn, who bowed or yielded to no one. She was not 'cute.'

"I'm coming," she spat out, continuing to pat down the rest of her body with the towel and reached for a new pair of boys boxers lying out for her on the bed spread. She knew she was in a different home; she had found a new place to call home, not one with guards or maids or steaming hot cups of tea served at her every whim. One where she had to work hard to earn her keep and to survive off of a meager amount of money, and one where the dirt and grime of outside was welcome.

"Good, I'm exhausted." The very reason she left, she realized, was so that she was _not _treated like royalty.

He waited outside for her, leaning his achy back up against the door to his room, contemplating about all the things he had said to her. He wanted to slap his forehead against the door. Because, during the time when seconds had turned into minutes and minutes into hours and hours into days, he had convinced himself that he was happy with her by his side. After being alone for so long, he had learned that opening up could be as hard as molding a metal that was not properly melted. He had forgotten what words were like. He had learned, with the refreshing image of Maka in his mind, that life was not all about the rise and fall of a hammer against the hard surface of iron.

He had finally learned what it felt like to not be suffocated by the fumes of his own coal and kerosene oil, and to not be constricted by what only work offered him. He wanted to learn how to live, and learn through Maka.

Or so, at least he thought he did.

* * *

The moon had already been hanging high above the sky when he had reached the pub. With a small sack of money dangling conspicuously from his finger, he walked into the small room filled with the raunchy shouts of drunken men and thugs, with the hood of his cloak pulled over his face. The men who weren't shouting glared dangerously at him as he passed. But he ignored them and kept walking towards the back, where three men sat - a tall and lanky man, a short and pudgy one, and an extremely brawny one - around the table, rambling in their alcohol-induced state about money and wealth. They noticed him coming towards them and immediately stared him down, setting their mugs full of alcohol down on the table. The muscular one is the first to answer.

"Hahaha!" He snorts at the cloaked figure standing in front of their table. "So what's a little prince boy like youse doin' out here?" The other men laughed in agreement.

"Shut up and listen up," Kid said in constrained anger. "Word around the town has said that you men were the last to see the princess before she went missing. So talk."

"Yeah..." the big thug said testily. "We saws her walkin' around the place, but we ain't about to say nothin' until we -" Kid impatiently threw the sack of golden coins on their table, and they gaped at it and then greedily snatched it up.

"Yeah! We did see 'er!" Said the tall one, stuffing his pocket with his stash of gold coins.

"She was wandering around town really late at night, and we stopped her, ya know, like the gentlemen we are. And we offered to escort her back to the castle," he said mockingly. "But she ran away from us, so as the nice men we were we followed her into the woods." Slamming his hands down at the table furiously, Kid demanded to know what they did to her or where she went afterwards, calling the attention of everyone else in the bar.

"I swear, if you even dared to lay a finger on Maka I will personally -"

"Hey, hey!" The fat man intercepted his rage. "We didn't do nothin' to her, we swear! Just a little roughin' up was all - Oof!" One of his comrades smacked him over the head, shutting him up.

"What he means was, we chased - er - followed her into the woods in hope to get a glance at the princess, however we were attacked by some madman in the woods!"

"Yeah! Some crazy man! With like white hair and sharp teeth and red eyes! He took 'er into the woods with him!" The long one chimes in.

"What are you talking about!?" Kid demanded through his gritted teeth.

"Some strange lookin' guy kidnapped her and took her deep into the woods. But that's all we gotta say," he finished.

"Where is she now?"

"How are we supposed to know? He took her and left!"

Kid thought over their words carefully before throwing out another sack of gold. He ran out of the pub and towards the kingdom, alerting everyone and everything to gather up as many men as the castle could muster and go as deep in the forest as they could.

Their princess, he had announced, had been kidnapped by a ruthless and terrifying white-haired red-eyed beast.

* * *

"Ouch! You're kicking me!"

"Dammit, Maka, can't you move over a little?!"

"I would if you stopped hogging the sheet!"

"Then how about we share it?"

"That's what we've been trying to do for the last twenty minutes!"

"You kicked me again."

"Sorry! This bed is just too small!"

"Then why don't you just sleep on the floor like you're supposed to tonight?" He asked annoyedly, bringing the covers back over his head and away from her.

"_You _were the one who said we could share tonight in the first place!" She huffed, yanking the covers back to herself.

"I was only saying that out of courtesy and wasn't actually expecting you to say 'yes.'"

"You shouldn't have asked in the first place then!"

"How about we compromise with the sheet?" He sighed and propped himself on his elbow on the pillow.

"What about the pillow?" She asked, taking her half of his scratchy wool blanket.

"I guess we'll have to share that, too." Which meant that their heads would have to be touching, he thought mischievously.

She sighed with exasperation. "Fine. Move it in the middle." Soul plopped his head down on the moved pillow and waited for her to lie down also. Trying not to make contact with his head, she anchored down slowly, then (to his disappointment) turned on her side to face away from him. "Good night, Soul," she murmured to the other side of the bed.

"Good night," he sighed. It was no accident that he had asked her to share the bed with him.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading and please review! Feedback is an author's best friend, I think. Guess what guys? I'm goin' to Comic Con this year! YAY! I might be cosplaying as either Maka or Haruhi Suzumiya, so if you see either of them there is a _slight _chance that it might be me. Lol :D**

**SilverBunni712**


	8. Fear the Red-Eyed Monster

"'Round the guards! Gather the horses! Arm your weapons!" Kid walked briskly around the castle balcony, watching the men below him scurry about the grounds, grabbing their swords and mounting their horses. They rode over below him and awaited their orders. "Now is the time that Princess Maka will return home to us!" He shouted over the balcony for all to hear. "As you know, she has been captured by a red-eyed beast and being held captive by it!" The crowd burst out in panicked whispers and gasps. "But, as the prince of the Gorgon Kingdom, I will not return home until it is defeated and the princess is safe and sound!" They roared with cheerful support and determined cries of revenge. "I shall slay this mighty monster!" The townsmen and women watched, filled with hopefulness that their princess will return, while he rode out into the streets of the Albarn Kingdom with an army of guards behind him on horseback. Riding with the encouraging spirit of the whole town in his ears, Kid guided the men and his (arguably symmetrical) horse as they galloped fearlessly over the tangle of branches and vines through the forest.

* * *

After smashing the mallet and melting the iron ore in the furnace since the early morning, Maka plopped down on the grassy meadow and finished wiping the soot off her face. She sighed, inhaling in the fresh air and running her fingers through the lush turf of green and smoothing out her knotted ashy blonde hair. She sat there, waiting until she heard the door to his house swing open and he took his seat next to her as usual when they were done with their work. "So how much did we make today?" She asked.

Soul rested himself down, unraveling the heavy apron until it hung loosely around his waist. "Enough to get us a good sum of money for the next three months or so."

"Three months?" She said, impressed at the amount even though it couldn't compare to her own wealth. "That's a lot...right?"

"Sure as hell it is! Can't remember the last time I've made that much that much cash," he smirked. "All thanks to you, of course."

Maka struggled to hide the red that had creeped up its way up to her cheeks. "Thanks."

"If you weren't such a fast learner, I doubt we would be here right now." He turned to gaze at the cerulean sky above them.

"But if you hadn't taught me, then I wouldn't have learned anything."

"I have an idea," he said. "Why don't we use the money so we can have an actual dinner tonight?"

"That would be nice. Oh, I'll cook! I know some great recipes that I learned from my mom when I was younger," Maka said excitedly. "It's really delicious."

"Sounds great. After all, I haven't had a homemade meal in years." Maka drew back in shock. "Yup," he replied to her look. "The last time I had a meal that was actually hand made was before I moved outta my parents house."

"Oh," she said, her mood slightly dampened. "Well, I'm gonna make you the best dinner then!" She giggled.

He nodded with approval. "Alright, then. How about you make us a full-course meal? Desert and everything."

"Deal," she smiled at him.

* * *

The forest ground trembled with the pounding hooves of many horses as they scoured the uninhabited land for her. "Sir!" A guard who had stopped to search around on foot ran to the prince, who still mounted on his horse. "Look at what I've found!" He holds up something shiny. Kid caresses it carefully, examining its silver gleam with precious jewels in the small slits in between. It was rusted slightly, covered in mud and dirt, and the jewels had been faded from braving nature.

"Her tiara..." Kid mutters. "She's this way!" He raises his hand and motions to the men to move on forward, whipping his sword out of its leather holder and striking the air in front of him. The horse whinnies as he tugs the bridle and rushes onward, deeper into the forest. "It's only noon!" He calls back to them. "We _will _find her!"

* * *

The albino boy wandered through the forest, wearing only his blacksmith outfit with the exception of the apron and goggles, and came upon a trampled path in the forest. He stopped and examined the low-lying branches that had been sliced off by a sharp edge, the stump cut clear though, and the trodden ground of hoof prints. Soul leaned down and outlined the u-shape with his finger, and immediately recognized the form as professional-made iron hooves, only meant to be worn by castle horses. Strange, he thought. Why were this many guards in a place like this? He shrugged, ignoring their presence, and continued on his way to town to get the supplies for his dinner.

* * *

"Hey, Maka! I'm back." The door to his house swung open to Soul, with a knapsack filled with ingredients. "Maka?" He called again. No reply. "Hello?" He set the bag down and made his way to the back of the house and went into his room. "Maka? Where the hell are you?" It was dark, too dark to see anything and the bed was made and empty. "C'mon, dammit. Where are you?"

"Gotcha!" She screamed, lunging out of her dark corner and jumping right in front of him.

Soul offered a blank stare, unfazed. "Very mature, Maka. _Very_ mature," he teased.

"Aww!" She smiled mischievously. "It always worked with Kid."

"Kid?"

"Oh, um...he was the person who I was supposed to marry. But then, I ran away..." She said sadly.

"So..." he said, wanting attempting to lighten the slightly darkened mood. "How old was this creep anyways?"

"He was not a creep; he was just...cold, I guess. You can tell from the way he looked at people. And he was my age."

"Why in the hell would you get married to someone now?" He scoffed.

"I...I guess my parents wanted me to...you know, grow up or something?" She said nervously. "I knew him for two years."

"And did you...actually like him?"

Maka let out a small laugh, "Well, he certainly wasn't mean or anything. He's just...a little...too organized for me." Her mind drifted off into a short memory of Kid hastily re-adjusting his suit constantly, smoothing down all of the wrinkles that would be there regardless of his efforts, and laughed.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about something, that's all." She changed the subject suddenly. "Oh! What did you get from town?" Maka trotted out of the room excitedly and peeked into the brown sack filled with all sorts of goods. "Perfect," she murmured as Soul approached from behind. "This is just what I need to make the perfect dinner for us!" He watched her face as it lit up from searching the contents and his forever-dismal gaze softened affectionately at her.

"Good, 'cause I'm freakin' starving."

While Maka worked busily in the kitchen, Soul resorted to relaxing in the meadow with himself, enjoying the afternoon breeze. He notified her before he left that he'd be going down to the lake, not far from their house, to cool off and wash for dinner. So he squatted down on the muddy water side and stared at his reflection, watching the water ripple and the image break as he dipped his cupped hand into the water and brought it up to his face. Splashing the frozen handful and rubbing his cheeks free of grime, he flung his unwrapped apron behind him and ripped off his boots and dipped his feet gingerly into the river.

He sighed with satisfaction, feeling the smooth riverbed rocks between his toes and the mossy ground at his fingertips, and let his mind go blank for a moment. He wished it would stay like this; the quiet of the forest and the world melting around him. It was the first time since he'd been so peaceful. Ever since he left his parents in the dead of night and escaped out into the woods, away from the strict and harsh grip of his family, and into his old tree house that he had been secretly working on whenever he had the time. Maka didn't know that the house she was cooking in had been his childhood; whatever free time he had would be spent in that house, which was once a shack, and slowly, board by board, he completed it years ago. He made wishes and had hopes and dreams that one day he'd be able to run away from his sad life. Getting a girl in the process was not one of them.

But he was grateful, nonetheless. It was nice not to be lonely for a change, especially since he used to sulk in the corner of his elementary classroom while the rest of the class played. He never understood them. But now he was with someone that was completely different from them; she didn't care much about his appearance, or that he hunched over whenever he stood, and that the only thing she complained about was how he made a mess whenever they were finished working. She actually _smiled_ when he was his own sullen self. She actually _enjoyed_ his company. And he had learned to enjoy hers, too.

Soul opened his eyes and his mind returned to the same scenery he sat in after a small rustle in the bushes startled him. He dried his feet and zipped his bulky boots back on, then snatched his apron sprawled out on the ground. Soul trudged up the grassy hill and was hit by the scent of bread when he reached the top. Maka smiled as soon as he entered the room, her body leaned over the counter and her face near a bowl filled with dough. On the stove was a boiling pot, where the smell emanated from. "Damn, Maka," he exclaimed. "Look's good."

"It's gonna taste even better," she said. She took her finger and scooped up some of the dough and held it too him. He was tempted to lick it off, but he held back and used his own hand, cursing at himself silently for not taking her up on her offer. It tasted delicious anyways. "Hope you're ready for tonight."

Soul paused and she noticed. "What's wrong?" She asked, concerned.

"It's nothing, really," he insisted. "But just this morning, there was a large group of castle guards in the forest." Maka suddenly tensed up at his words.

"What...do you mean?" She asked in a nervous chuckle.

"I mean I didn't see them, but from the hoof prints and the sheer amount of them they were certainly fresh. I wonder why they'd wanna be here," he finished, but she remained silent. "Oh well, I'll be outside if you need me. I'll be preparing the tools we made this morning so I can go and sell them tomorrow." He grabbed a wheelbarrow and collected all of the tools - all kinds of hammers, swords, screws, and things that only they knew what they made - and took them outside, where he laid them out to organize and count.

Soul began to count the amount of each tool and put them in a pile, then moved on to the next too, and the next and so on. Until he was shrewdly interrupted by a large rustle in the bushes nearby. He stopped and investigated, grabbing a newly-made sword and poking at the shrubs cautiously. But there seemed to be nothing.

Just about when he was about to shrug and continue on with his work, he heard a sharp cry - a battle cry - that pierced the silence, and a boy in clad silver armor rushes out of the opposite side of the brush and charges at him, his golden eyes narrowed and his sword pointed straight for Soul's chest.

Soul, confused and startled, instinctively dodged the sword and held his own in defense. The boy persisted on attacking, though. "Foul beast!" He cried angrily, swiping with his weapon at him. "Where is she?! Where did you take her?!" Soul avoided another blow to the chest and as soon as the boy's back was towards him, thrusts the butt of his sword into the square center of his back and into the armor, knocking the him forward.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" He asked as they took a breath and composed themselves.

"The princess!" He insisted, scraping his matted, black bangs out of his eyes. "Where did you take her?!"

"P-princess? What princess?" The boy lunged forward with the same attack, but Soul knew better this time, countering with the same dodge.

"Don't lie!" He huffed, brushing off the dirt stain on his shiny armor. "I know you have her! Now, where is she?!"

He raised up his hands in submission. "Look, dude. I don't know any princess. I don't even know who you are and why we're fighting. So can we just -"

"Liar!" He screamed, attacking while Soul had his sword down. He tackled him and Soul lost his grip on his weapon, watching it fly out of his hand and out of reach while the boy pinned him to the ground. "If you won't confess, then we'll just have to find her ourselves!" He stood up and raised the glimmering point right above Soul's eyes. "DIE, YOU RED-EYED DEMON!" He roared and thrusted his sword down while Soul cringed.

His eyes were still closed when he heard the sudden clang of metal on metal, and the silence that followed it. The boy's shocked eyes saw his weapon soar through the air, his blow parried by another person to his side. Soul's eyes shot open to see an enraged Maka, her eyes flashing a dangerous green, wielding a crowbar that she had presumably grabbed from the ground. She stood at the side of the boy and shoved him off of Soul, kneeling down and asking as he was alright. "M-Maka?!" The boy asked suddenly. She pulled the slightly confused albino boy off of the ground.

"Idiot!" She chastised him. "You could've killed him! What's wrong with you, Kid?!" Maka shot Soul a concerned look. "Are you okay?"

He nodded absently and glanced at his attacker, which he now knew to be as 'Kid.' "Who is this guy?" He asked.

Her gaze turned its attention to the ground guiltily. "This is Kid. He's the prince of the Gorgon Kingdom..." she mumbled.

"P-Prince?"

"And he's the boy I'm supposed to marry," she added in dryly, and his jaw almost fell down to the forest floor.

"Maka! Princess!" Kid ran over to Maka happily, attempted to hug her but she refused. "Where have you been? Everyone from the castle's been so worried!" He suddenly turned his attention to Soul, who was still gaping. "And you! What have you done to the princess?!" His tone rose dangerously as the grip on his sword tightened.

"P-Princess?!" He cried, still absolutely confused.

Maka sadly took one step towards him, her guilty eyes still planted on the ground. "I'm sorry I never told you...I lied about my name and where I came from. My name is Maka Albarn, and I'm the princess of the Albarn Kingdom."

* * *

**A/N: So what did you think of this chapter, guys? **

**Leave a review please!**

**SilverBunni712**


	9. A Broken Goodbye

"P-princess?!" Maka annoyedly swatted the point of Kid's sword away from Soul and took a guilty step towards him, pulling absently at the loose threads of her shirt. "You're a...princess?!" Soul repeated to himself in awe.

"Prince Kid! And Princess Maka! Are you okay?" The leader of the brigade stepped through the underbrush and spotted Soul standing next to Maka. "You!" He draws out his sword and points it accusingly at him. "So you're the one who kidnapped the Princess!"

"Not another one..." Soul muttered as the angry guard barreled at him with a battle cry. He felt Maka grab his arm defensively.

"Stop it!" She commanded and the guard skid to a stop. "He's not our enemy!"

He paused in confusion. "Your highness! Hasn't this wretched beast taken you as his captive?!"

"No!" She yelled, pulling Soul closer. "He saved me!"

"From where? Where, exactly, did you go, Maka?" Kid intervened. Maka shrunk down again.

"I...well, I ran away, okay?" She forced out.

"Why would you ever think of running away from the castle?" He asked, bewildered.

"Because I didn't want to live there anymore!"

"And for what reason would you _want_ to leave?" His tone became solemn and saddened. "Why would you want to leave your own father? Your friends? Why would you want to leave _me_? Was I...doing something wrong?"

"No, no, Kid, it's not like that!" she glanced at Soul. "Can we...talk about this when we get to the castle? I'd like a moment alone with Soul." The guard and Kid exchange glances, then go back through their trampled down bushes and into the shadows.

"Why didn't you tell me who you really were?" Soul asked as soon as they were out of earshot. "Why did you have to lie?"

"I'm so sorry, Soul. I just thought that maybe if you knew who I really was, then you wouldn't accept me." She dug her heel softly into the dirt.

"But you didn't have to lie about it! I would've been on your side even if you were a princess. What were you thinking?" He asked angrily, feeling partially betrayed and partially disappointed.

"I'm sorry..." she murmured guiltily. "I thought I could start new, and I really liked it here."

"Are you sure about that? Or are you lying about that too?!"

"I wasn't lying! I swear, it's the truth! Do you have any idea what it feels like to finally live like a normal person for the first time ever?! I just wanted to learn, to know how to live!"

"Why in the hell would you want to live like _this_?" He motions to his house riddled with cracks and slouching shingles angrily. "I can barely scrape a living for myself and I'm stuck working for the rest of my life, while you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth! I'd _kill_ to have a life like yours! I just don't understand you, Maka. The least you could've done is told me the truth, not lead me on and play me like a sucker," he snickered. "I'd've thought you were different than everyone else."

There was heavy silence and only the sound of the soft breeze that ran through the leaves and the distant whinny of a horse.

"You right," she chuckled sadly. "It was wrong of me to leave my castle. It was wrong of me to try to even learn what it's like to _not_ be a princess. It was wrong of me to lie to you," Maka gave an exasperated laugh. "Ugh, why do I even try?! I mean, if I hadn't left, then I wouldn't have bothered you or caused this much trouble for everyone. And besides, who am I kidding? I'm the princess of the Albarn Kingdom; there's no way I'd be able to understand a normal person." Soul's gaze softened at her.

"Is this it?" He asked quietly. "Does this mean we won't get to see each other again?"

"I don't know. But now, if you'll excuse me, I have to resume my duties as future queen. Kid and I will be married not long from now. " She turned around quickly and swallowed her hidden tears. "Goodbye, Soul."

He doesn't reply; he just offered a solemn gaze as she made her way through the bushes, giving one last longing glance at him, and headed into the forest.

* * *

"Oh, my little Princess has returned!" Spirit cried happily and squeezed his daughter until she couldn't breathe.

"Okay, dad. You can stop now," she pushed away from his grasp.

The double doors to the throne room are pushed open, and Queen Medusa strides in. "Welcome home, princess," she said coldly. "We've all been awaiting your return. You had us quite worried with your, as you could call it, 'adventure.' May I ask, how _was_ your time spent in those woods?" she said with a false tone of endearment.

"It was certainly interesting," Maka answered cautiously. How had she known that she was in the forest this whole time? Not even the guards had. "How would you know that I was in the forest?"

"Oh, excuse me," she smiled slyly. "I had just made an assumption, seeing that there's no other place you could go very far in only a week."

"Oh," Maka said. "Well, I'm back from my adventure now."

"Now we can get those horrible clothes off you and get you into a _real_ dress, right from your personal tailor," Spirit interrupted. "No daughter of mine is gonna wear _those_!"

"For your information, these are a _blacksmith's_ clothing, not just any," she snickered at him and trudged begrudgingly up to her room.

Medusa stopped her before she could make her way to the room. "Oh, and one last thing, princess. I hope you realize that the wedding is in a few days. A few days from now, you and your betrothed will be at the pulpit for a very important moment that will decide the fates of our kingdom - your future land. I don't suggest you cling to the things that will only hold you down."

Maka flopped onto her giant bed, the satin sheets feeling no softer or welcoming as they had been when she first left, and gazed up at the ceiling emptily. As ironic as it was, she no longer felt like life had a meaning; she didn't have to strive or work or even lift a finger. There was no hardships or struggles; she was just _there_ by birthright and nothing else.

She twiddled with the ends of her apron - which she suddenly realized she could use as an excuse to go back to Soul - and unraveled the outfit, right down to the boots and folded them neatly on the bed. She searched through her dresser for a new outfit, wishing that there were clothes other than dresses. It was not _all_ the time she had to be fancy.

Suddenly her door bursts open and two people tackled her (still half naked) to the ground. "Maka!" She recognized the happy voice of Liz. "We're so glad you're back! What happened? Where did you go all this time? What did you do for a week?!"

Maka didn't answer their questions until she fully put on her dress and they all got off the floor and took a seat on her bed. "I was chased into the woods by some thugs," she began, then continued to tell her tale about how she met a strange-looking albino boy in the middle of the forest who just so happened to be a blacksmith. Liz and Patty were glued in their seats, their eyes wide with curiosity at their friend's adventure.

"And that's how I met Soul," she finished.

"'Soul?' Is that even a name?" Liz asked.

"Ooh! It sounds pretty!" Patty chimed in.

"Did he actually make you _work_?"

"It wasn't bad work," Maka said. "It just required you to get dirty and stuff. And I wanted to work anyways."

"Ooh! The princess got dirty!" Patty laughed.

"So what now?" Liz asked and dampened their moods slightly.

"Well, there's no choice now, right?" Maka said sadly. "I guess I have to marry him."

"I guess...things could be worse?" Patty said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"No, things could've be better; I was too stupid and selfish to see that if I hadn't left the castle, things would've been just fine. I can't be after things that are just not meant to be. Soul and I...it was all a mistake meeting him. Now I've caused so much trouble and worry for everyone, especially Kid." Liz and Patty looked sadly at their princess friend. "I have to fix the void between Kid and I. And I have to apologize to everyone for causing so much trouble. I should've never left, Liz. I feel so stupid right now," she finished guiltily. "I'm so sorry I made you guys worry."

The next thing she knew was that she was being embraced by her friends once again. "Nah, it's fine with us," said Liz as Maka rested her head on her shoulder.

"Yeah! It's okay, we don't blame you," Patty said happily.

"Thanks guys," Maka said with pleasant relief. "But I have a feeling that Kid won't be too okay with me."

He waited for her in the meeting hall which was empty after their daily meeting. As soon as Maka walked through the door, dressed up in her usual royal attire, he greeted her accordingly and patted down his own. He cleared his throat before talking. "Well," he began. "It looks like you have some explaining to do."

"I do, and I just want to say I'm sorry for running away."

"You do realize that the whole kingdom was in a panic and it was only a few weeks before our wedding, so I hope you can explain that to your father and my step-mother." He sighed. "You still haven't answered one question, though. Why would you run away at this time?"

"Because..." She tried to think of an excuse that wouldn't hurt his feelings or damage their relationship, although the damage had been done already. "I was tired of living in the castle and I was tired of being a princess."

"What kind of excuse is that? In this castle you have everything you could possibly need -everything is luxurious here and you have servants who take care of you. What could the outside world accomplish for you?"

"That's the problem, Kid!" Maka retorted. "We've lived here in this castle for most of our lives - we sleep here and eat here and live life here - and we never get a chance to open ourselves to the world beyond this one; a world where people work and are not afraid to get their hands dirty, and live off of their lifestyles and accept it. I wanted to get a chance to see those people and to feel what it's like, is there anything wrong with that?"

"But you're a _princess. _ Your life is much different than those of the common people; you were never meant to be like them. The same applies to myself, and the king and queen, and we've had to accept it also. This is the way _we_ live, Maka, and we can't change it."

"Can't we, though?" Maka stood up indignantly.

"Enough of this, Maka," he sighed. "All that matters is that you're here now, and you're safe. According to Medusa and Spirit, the wedding is this Sunday. That's in three days."

"Th-three days?!"

"Well, don't you think we've been holding this off for long enough? Medusa is at her boiling point with this. The kingdoms need us, Maka. We must fulfill our duties as prince and princess and combine the two."

She looked down at the table, frustrated about nearly being able to change her fate, but in the end failing. This was a destiny that she could not avoid. "I understand, Kid. Maybe I was just...too curious about everything." Maka turned towards the door and started walking. "I'll prepare for the wedding."

* * *

He decided that his house had become emptier without her presence. No longer were the flames of his fire as hot or warm as they were when she was working with them and the shiny new tools he just made had lost their luster. Everything was dull now, but it was not like he was not used to it before; he had been living for years in his little old shack, why should this particular day be any different? Was it because she was gone? He wondered.

Soul shrugged off his thoughts and forced himself back into his work. He didn't need his little helper anymore; he was able to support himself before her, and now all he'd have to do is re-readjust to working alone again. Besides, she was off doing more important things in her castle while he slaved away and tried to make meager money off of his work.

But he did realize something: it just wasn't the same without Maka by his side. And he hated it.

* * *

She harassed her father to let her leave once more. Once more, she promised, and never again afterwards. She just wanted to see him again, one last time before she'd be wed to Kid, so she used the excuse of bringing back the borrowed clothing as a reason why. After begging and pleading for a while, the king finally ordered three guards to escort her through the woods. Although she didn't quite approve of the extra company, she went anyways.

When they had left on horseback it was already beginning to get dark. The sun barely peeked over the horizon and the stretched shadows of houses cast down on the market people who were packing up for the night. They saluted her as she traveled down their street, and she answered back with a sincere smile. Eventually they passed the clearing and into the woods where they followed the flattened path that led to Soul's dwelling place.

Maka dismounted on her horse and took out the neatly folded clothing and tucked it under arms. She stepped through the bushes and towards a small cottage, its shingles drooping downwards and bricks occasionally jutting out from the walls, and a hearty pillar of smoke rose out of its meager chimney. As she got closer, she heard it - the steady and distinct clunk of iron ore being mashed up against an anvil until it took form - and knew that Soul was hard at work. She waved away the guards that followed behind her and continued on alone.

There was a knock at the door. Pushing the goggles up on his head from his eyes, Soul sighed and looked up from his handy work. "Coming," he said and set his hammer down.

"Hi, Soul," Maka greeted him at the door.

"Oh, it's you," he said plainly.

"Um," she took the clothing and held it out to him embarrassedly. "I just wanted to give this back to you."

"Thanks," he said emptily and accepted his clothes back. He bit his lip and pretended to examine them. "I'm sorry about yelling earlier."

"It's fine," she replied softly. "I know I did something stupid."

He paused and thought for a moment. "Is this all you wanted to see me for?"

"Oh, yeah. I...I'm going to be married to Prince Kid in three days," she smiled sadly.

"Three days?"

"Yes. It's my duty to marry him to unite the Albarn and Gorgon Kingdoms. But...I was wondering if you'd...I mean, as the princess, I hereby cordially invite you to the castle to visit. Tonight."

"Why are you inviting me now?"

"Well, I felt kinda guilty for leaving right before our meal, so I want to make up for it. And I never got to say a proper 'thank you' for taking care of me."

He smirked. "Okay, I'll go. What time should I come?"

Maka perked her head up. "Um, just come in time for dinner! Don't worry, I'll be waiting!"

"I'll see you then, _your highness," _he smirked shot her a toothy smile and watched as the trotted away happily_._

* * *

"Well, well, well," Medusa snickered into her crystal ball, reflecting the image of a happy Maka waving one last goodbye to Soul and mounted her horse. "I never knew things would be going so _perfectly_," she said wryly. Her plans were coming into play very nicely, she thought, and soon it would be _her_ time to reign. She threw open the doors to her pitch-black throne room and ordered a guard to come over and handed him a slip of paper. "Please," she said. "Have this delivered to a _special_ family right away. It is urgent that you get them to come to the Albarn castle immediately."

"Yes ma'am!" He stiffened his back and saluted her with respect, then ran out of the Gorgon castle.

"I hope you certainly enjoy your stay at her little kingdom, Soul. It will be the last thing you do before you're out of here," she cackled to herself and strode back into her room, the door slamming to a close.

* * *

She waited excitedly for him and ran through all of her dresses, deciding which would be best looking on her. She even found herself humming softly while she did. Though, she realized, the time when they would have to say goodbye would be unbearable, she decided that she would try to make the best out of it; it was for the best of the kingdoms after all. It was destiny, and destiny can't be helped.

"Miss Maka!" Marie whipped out a comb and started to straighten out her hair. "You look absolutely lovely without those pigtails!"

"Thank you," Maka said happily. "I wanna look my best today."

"Is it for Kid?"

"No, it's for that boy I met in the woods earlier. I invited him over for dinner and I told the whole castle so they won't be alarmed."

"Oh, that's...nice," she answered hesitantly.

"What? Is there a problem with having a guest over for dinner?"

"Oh, nothing, Maka. It's just a little odd; after hearing what happened to you, the castle doesn't know what to think of this boy."

"But I told them that he never hurt me! I told them the whole story, and that's it."

"Just making sure. Just didn't want him to end up in jail accidentally."

"Don't joke like that! It makes me nervous when you say that..."

"I'm sorry, your highness, I won't mention it anymore. Anyways, it's getting late, so he should be here soon! I will make sure to alert you when he does!" She scrambled out the door and Maka was left alone, slightly disturbed by Marie's statement.

It was late now; she was pretty sure that she invited Soul about two hours ago. What if he didn't come? She wondered worriedly and paced around the room. It was only thirty minutes later that she rushed out of her room and to Marie to ask her if she'd heard anything about a guest. "Nope," she replied sadly. "There hasn't been anybody who's showed up yet, but don't lose hope yet!"

Another thirty minutes pass, and still no news. It was now even too late for dinner (unless you're Tsubaki or BlackStar). Maka huffed and pulled back her lively pink dress and sagged down on her bed. She wondered sadly what time he'd be coming, or even if he bothered to come. She jolts up when her door is open and Miss Marie steps in. "Maka, it's almost time to sleep. I don't think he's coming..."

She didn't want to accept that sad fact. "No! Just wait a little longer! He'll come!"

Maka ventured out to her balcony and stared out into the starry sky and realized that the time for him to come was way overdue, and that he probably was not coming at all. Resorting to closing her eyes, she rested on the fact that she'd have to eat dinner alone, like she did every night when the kings was busy. She leaned down on an elbow and listened to the quietness of it all. Then suddenly, little tapping sounds.

She looked below at her feet and found that there were little pebbles that we not there before. Another ping and another pebble landed on her balcony. She looked down and over below to a small area filled with some trees, searching for the source of the pebbles.

Her eyes scanned the trees for something, then she found herself looking down when a small pebble smacks her on the head. She finally finds him - a small patch of white hair in the middle of dark green - saluting her all the way at the bottom with that ridiculous grin.

* * *

**A/N: So how did I do with this chapter? Leave some feedback, please!**

**SilverBunni712**


	10. Seal it With a Kiss

"What are you doing down there?!" The princess called down from the balcony at the boy in the woods right below.

"I was warned by one of the townspeople not to come through the front entrance," he said.

"Papa," she muttered under her breath accusingly. "I'm gonna have to talk to him later..."

"Hey, Maka! I'm coming up." Using the ivy that grew against the wall for his grip and bricks that jutted out as his foothold, Soul climbed his way upwards towards her balcony until her hand was in reach. He grunted as he swung his leg over the guardrail and landed next to Maka, noticing her in her beautiful pink dress with her faded blonde hair flowing down to her shoulders. "You look..._awfully_ nice today," he said.

Maka gazed downward as a slight streak of red creeped across her cheeks. "Thanks. I'm so relieved," she smiled. "I thought you weren't coming."

"Why wouldn't I come? Her highness still owes me a meal," he joked. "And I'm starving." Maka giggled.

"Thankfully my Papa's too busy today," she said as they made their way down the gigantic hallway that lead down a regally large staircase.

"It's so damn big..." he muttered and stared around in awe. "Do you ever get lost in here?" His words echoed around the gold-encrusted walls painted a dark blue, along with their steps that bounced off its walls.

"You get used to it. I remember when I was little I used to run around until the maids couldn't find me anymore. I used to laugh when they'd find me, hiding in the pantry, munching on the royal cookies."

"You sounded like fun," he laughed. "When I was little, my father was too strict to even let me run around. He wanted me to practice in the way of the blacksmith; there was no time to run around and play. My mother didn't even care. So at night...I used to sneak out into the forest and borrow some spare wood from the carpenter. That's where I built my house. I mean, I made some modifications as I got older. But that was my childhood."

"And then you ran away?" She asked.

"Yup. One night, when I was old enough and strong enough to work, I took some tools from my workshop and got the hell outta that place. It was probably the best decision I've ever made."

"But didn't you get lonely?"

"Eh, who needed friends when you're peacefully living out there alone with no one to bother you? It was a good life, I admit."

Maka pushed open the door that lead to the dining hall, where she had made sure a banquet fit for a whole kingdom was prepared. "I hope you're ready..." she said and motioned to the long table, covered to the brink with all kinds of food - from chicken to stuffed turkey and various types of vegetables that he had never seen before - all set out and steaming hot on silver platters. Soul gaped, his drooling jaw almost hitting the floor.

"So...hungry..."

"C'mon, Soul! Hurry up and eat before you faint!" She took his hand and led him over to a seat, where the both of them dined together.

After that had thoroughly enjoyed themselves on their meals, Maka decided to continue their tour around the castle. "Here, I'll show you my favorite places: the library and the courtyard." Soul trotted after an excited Maka running out into the darkened garden and took a seat on the bench in front of the fountain.

The courtyard was deadly silent under the starry night sky; flowers once filled with vibrant colors that loudly announced their presence were now quieted by spread of darkness around them, and the hummingbirds took shelter, huddling together against the night in tiny nests nestled in between tree branches. Even in all its faded beauty, Soul looked out in awe at the size of it. "Woah..." he muttered under his breath.

"This is where I read every morning," she said and patted the stone bench.

"You read?"

"Everyday, every morning," she said proudly. "And over there is my favorite tree that I love to climb." The princess pointed into the darkness.

Soul took a seat next to her and stared down into the rippling pool of water, his reflection gazing back at him. "You must have it good here."

Maka's excitement simmered down a bit. "Well, I have servants and maids. I guess...well, they do everything for me. I don't even have to lift a finger. Is it...ungrateful of me to say that I kinda...get tired of them pampering me all the time? I mean, I never get to do anything on my own. It's kinda...pathetic," she concluded sadly.

"Well, you're a princess. Shouldn't you be living like royalty anyways?"

"I admit, being a princess is fine and all...but it's so hard to earn respect here. Everyone treats you like a baby, like I'm fragile. I'm just a helpless little girl! I don't get a say in what I want in the future for myself! There's no freedom for me within these walls." She twiddled absently with the ruffles of her dress. Soul responded with doleful silence, so she continued, "I wanted to feel the freedom that you did; that's what I was trying to tell you earlier. But I can't. As the princess, I have duties towards my kingdom and I must marry the Prince Kid. Ugh! That's why I'm so jealous of people like you."

"Then why don't you fight for yourself? Stand up and refuse," he urged calmly.

"I can't just say 'no.' That's not how it works. Not anymore. Ever since they found out I ran away on purpose..."

"Well, you can't just sit here while you know you're gonna suffer with this guy for the rest of your life!"

"Can't you see I tried? I ran away! I caused the whole kingdom to worry about me! I hurt my father and my friends. I-I was stupid, okay? I've done enough damage."

Soul sighed with frustration. "What's wrong with you lately? When we first met you were so willing to work with me for the sake of abandoning your precious kingdom! And now you're regretting all of that time you spent with me? Why don't you stick by what you stand for? Do you want this life or not?!" He demanded, and Maka was taken aback by his harshness.

"Don't you know what I want already?!" She retorted. "Can't you see? It's just not meant to be!" Her tone quieted. "The reason why I have to marry him is because our marriage will bind the two kingdoms together. It will stop the hundreds of years worth of fighting."

Soul's temper relaxed. "So...there's nothing you could do about that, I guess."

"I really tried, Soul, I really did," she said, her tone constrained by the lump in her throat. "But I can't fight destiny."

"Your only partially wrong; you may not be able to fight destiny, but you can certainly change it."

"If I knew how I could avoid this, then wouldn't I have done it already?" Her shoulders drooped with defeat as she peered sadly into the fountain with Soul's concerned reflection right next to hers. "It's not fair. My only regret...is that I never got to spend enough time with you. I bet there were so many more things you could've taught me that no library or book could."

After some sullen silence, Soul reached into his pocket and pulled out something. "As long as you don't forget about me, then there's no need to worry, right?" he said softly and took her hand, placing something hard and cold in it. She looked down at her palm and saw something small and shiny - a small land delicate-looking metal trinket in the shape of a box.

"What is it?" She asked and examined it closely.

"I made it the day you left. I was planning on teaching you on how to make those; I don't actually know what they're called, but I made up the design myself. Consider it a trademark invention of the Evans family blacksmiths." He reached over and pushed a small button that caused the little wires and gears inside to rotate, then a small melody, silent yet distinct, tinkered from it. Maka held it up to her ear and listened to its calming tune.

She gasped as she recognized where it had originated from. "My mama used to sing this me when I was little!"

"So you like it?"

"Of course. Thank you, Soul. Um..." She tucked the box neatly in the palm of her hand. "What if I forget what you've taught me? I don't want to forget, ever. How would you make sure that the things you've taught me are sealed in my head?"

Soul reached for her hand again, his searing red gaze planted on her. "I know we won't be together after this..." His voice barely rose over a whisper. "But there is one way..." He turned his body so that he was fully facing hers, taking her hand and pulling her closer.

"Soul?" She murmured, somewhat bewildered at him and his sudden seriousness.

"You seal it..." His other hand tenderly swept away the strands of ashy blonde bangs away from her eyes and she finally understood. "With a kiss," he whispered, his face so close she could feel his gentle warm breath.

Maka slipped her hands behind his neck, pulling him closer, feeling his hands caress her cheeks and bring her lips daringly close to his own. She felt her eyes slowly beginning to close, her mind beginning to slip into temptation as their lips touched and pushed together. She didn't want to stop, even though it was wrong; how ironic it was to be cheating on her betrothed, when she herself was so against him ever doing it to her.

Soul was not fairing any better; he wanted nothing more than to feel her lips, those lips that could curl up so perfectly into the perfect smile - warm, encouraging, and welcoming - and to feel them pressing up against his own. He wanted nothing more than to sit there with her forever, feeling the pure satisfaction of her kiss, cradling the pale, soft skin of her cheeks and pushing his lips against hers until the need for air pulled them apart.

"Soul..." Maka's urging voice penetrated his bliss. "Soul...stop..." He felt her hands that had slowly tugged him forward now pushing him away. "Please...stop. It's not right." Only when they had pulled away had Maka and Soul realized what had happened.

With a loud and sudden bang, the courtyard door opened wide and a path of light illuminated the path to the fountain. Two figures stood in the shadow of the light, calling for the princess. "Princess Maka! There is a family out here to see you!"

She turn to Soul. "Hide! They can't see you here!" she hissed at him and he dove behind the fountain. The people walked towards her, one being her father and Marie standing at his side.

"Maka, a family is here to see you. They claimed that they've been sent from Queen Medusa and they're looking for a boy who is supposed to be visiting here."

"They're...looking for Soul?" She asked.

"Yes. However, I notified them that there is no visiting boy here."

She looked down guiltily. "Actually..." Soul stood up from behind the water and glanced at the king.

"Greetings, your highness," Soul said upon immediately revealing himself.

"What is _he_ doing here?" Spirit huffed indignantly.

"I invited him here, but I heard you wouldn't let him in!" she retorted.

"Since when did we invite _him_ here?!"

"Um, your highnesses," Miss Marie bowed suddenly. "We have the group of people waiting at our front door."

"Papa! We have no time for this. Who is waiting for him?" The princess demanded, but the two only shook their heads. "C'mon, Soul."

"How is there someone here for me?" He asked with confusion as they walked down the hall to the front door.

"I don't know..." Maka replied as the light of the foyer came into view. The giant double-doors of their entrance was open, and two people stood there. To her side, she hear Soul draw his breath and stop suddenly. "What is it?" She squinted at the two forms and noticed their details: a woman, who stood with her back perfectly straight, her dress a faded green and complimented her weary red eyes and dark hair that was tied in a bun.

The man next to her, also as regal looking as she did, had his hands strictly behind his back. His hair, she noticed, stood out the most and bore a scary resemblance to Soul's. His eyes were quite hard to look at directly; they were the type abysmal black that were cold and hard and judgmental on anything he were to cast them on. Soul tensed at the sight of them.

"Soul?" She asked, and they started to walk toward them.

"Oh, Samuel Evans," the woman spoke first, deep creases of worry encircled under her eyes. "We thought we'd never find you."

The man, in all his demanding presence, stepped forward and loomed over Soul. "Welcome home," he said to him coldly. "We still have so much training to do."

"Soul..." Maka interrupted them both. "Are they...your parents?"

He failed to answer her, too busy being consumed by the fact that he stood in front of his parents that he hadn't seen for the last five years. "Time to go home, sweetheart," his mother's timid voice echoed softly through the halls.

"How did you know I would be here?" He asked.

The father answered sternly, "We were summoned here by a letter from the Gorgon Kingdom."

"But how?" Maka murmured to herself, knowing that there was no way that _she _could've known that Soul was going to be at the castle tonight.

Soul glanced at Maka hopelessly. "Samuel, let's go." His father turned his back swiftly and started away towards their carriage.

"Wait!" She grabbed his hand before he could take a step. "You can't leave, I mean, you can't...but..."

"Maka," she froze at his solemn tone as his hand slipped from hers. "I'm sorry, but I have to leave."

They loaded the carriage and the royal guard closed their door shut while Maka watched wordlessly as it took off into the night. "Please, don't leave," she whispered to herself as it finally disappeared into the distance.

* * *

**A/N: Finally, the appearance of Soul's parents. Sorry the kissing scene was so corny, I had no idea how it would play out at that point. Anyways, please leave some feedback! Reviews motivate me to keep on writing. Thanks for reading!**

**SilverBunni712**


	11. The Game of War

Soul peered out of the window gloomily with the fresh thought of Maka's lips on his, and gazed into the night as his carriage rocked back and forth, bumping along over the rough ground while the horse's trot clopped along the gravel. His parents remained solemnly silent just as their son did, the mother staring down at her faint pale-grey hands in the candle light, and his father also leaning over to glance morosely out the window on his side. After a while of quiet, Soul finally interrupted. "How did you find me?"

His mother looked up and answered, "We received a letter not long ago addressed to us from the Gorgon Kingdom. It had said that our son would return to us finally, and that we would find him waiting for us at the castle of the Albarns. We rushed over from our town as fast as we could." She offered a faint smile. "But now we're glad you're back, right sweetheart?" She reached out for the hand of her husband, but he drew back in disgust.

"Yes. Now we can resume your strict training in hopes that one day, you will own our family business," his father said coldly.

Soul snorted and leaned back from the window. "I thought I made it clear before. I don't want to be in the family business. I want to decide _my own_ destiny for once."

"Impossible!" His father retorted with constrained anger and clenched his fists. "We are the ones who decide your fate."

He scowled to himself silently as he rested back into the seat, making sure to avoid the fragile and concerned eyes of his mother so he wouldn't remember the light that they once had in them, the life and happiness she used to have before she married _him_. How he loathed that man who he was forced to call "father," who sat in front of him with his arms crossed sternly against his chest.

"Sweetheart, please be nice," his mother begged quietly. "Shouldn't we just concentrate on the fact that we have been reunited with our son? Shouldn't we be celebrating right now?" Her voice calmed the angry man down, and he settled back down. "I know things might be a bit unhappy right now, but I'm sure you'll understand one day." She reached out her hand and gingerly rested it on his knee. "Your father and I only want the best for our son."

Soul resorted to sulking and staring emptily out the window once again. "Where are we going now?" He grumbled.

"We're returning home in the next town over. It will be a while until we get there," she answered and then she paused. "Tell me, what were you doing in that castle with the princess?"

Soul tensed. "She...she invited me to dine with her."

His father and mom exchange glances. "Why would that be?" He asked.

"None of your business," he sneered.

"I am your father and you must obey my commands!"

"Stop it! Please," she interrupted their rising voices. "Please."

"I was at the castle because I did the princess a favor, okay? She wanted to repay the favor by treating me to a meal," he sighed.

"Tell us, Samuel, where did you live for the time you were away?"

He paused first to gather up his story, then told them all about the night he had snuck away from the house and how he found solace in his little house that he had built himself, brick by brick. How he dropped his name, Samuel, because it was too conventional for a cool guy like him. He remembered how, using only his meager amount of tools, he managed to pull out enough money to buy his own furnace and have his own lifestyle doing the only thing he knew how to do - create things using fire and iron.

But then, there was Maka.

He decided to leave her part out of his story. Not even they deserved to hear the adventures and mishaps that had happened only between themselves. And the last thing he needed from his parents was an hour-long interrogation of what he did with the princess of the Albarn Kingdom. "And that's it," he shrugged under his parents' uneasy gaze.

His father's eyes slit suspiciously at him. "I hope you're planning on working that hard in my house," he sneered. "I guarantee that this is the last time you will run away."

* * *

"Oh! You look sooo pretty!" Patty laughed at Maka's disgusted face as she pulled at the white hems of her dress, staring at herself in the mirror with the wedding dress that flowed downward against her knees. She had donned on the new dress as soon as Marie pranced in with it, excitedly waving it up and down as Maka returned from the front entrance that same night.

"I look _horrible_..." she mumbled, observing the shroud of white that covered everything from her chest to the tips of her toes, its fabric embellished with small sparkles that reflected in the mirror each time she turned. "Why did Papa have to choose _this_ dress?"

"Because!" Liz bent down and smoothed down the ruffles on her legs. "You're gonna get married in only two days now. Hold this!" She shoved a bouquet of white roses in the princess' hand and turned her to face towards the mirror. "You look beautiful." Maka sighed at her friend's sympathetic attempts to make her happy. "C'mon, Maka. Don't frown like that." She opened her eyes and glanced at her crestfallen image in the mirror while Liz put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It'll work out," she said and slowly reached for her tiara, setting it down carefully on her head.

"I'm stuck, Liz," she admitted gloomily. "I don't know what to do anymore. I still have to resolve things with Kid, and our marriage is in two days."

The sisters answered in quiet disappointment. How could they stand to see their best friend being stuck for the rest of her life with someone she didn't love? "Aw, Maka," Patty wandered over to the distraught princess and wrapped her arms around her chest comfortingly. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," she murmured gently as Liz did the same. Maka felt her knees cave in and she landed on the floor softly, her voluminous dress cushioning her fall while her friends caressed her.

"Don't do that!" A sudden voice that came from the door interrupted, and Maka stood up immediately. "You'll dirty the new fabric that they just tailored." Kid stood in the doorway, his hands tucked neatly behind his pristine black uniform, and his black hair tainted with his three white stripes combed completely down with not a strand that stuck out.

"K-Kid..." Maka managed out and glanced at her friends. "I've been meaning to talk to you." Liz glanced at her sister and cleared her throat, leading her out of the room.

"I suppose I have the right to be mad. After all, you _did _ignore your responsibilities and your duty towards your kingdom as well as your duty to me," he finished, striding over to where Maka stood guiltily.

"I understand that I was wrong Kid, and I'm sorry for - "

"However," he interrupted stiffly, his sharp golden eyes shifting downwards. "The more I think about it, the more I understand."

"Understand what?"

"I understand that you don't want to marry me," he finished and Maka remained silent. "Actually, I've understood ever since you first laid your eyes on me. How stupidly blind I have been."

"You say that now...but there's not much we can change..."

"Yes, I admit. There's no escape for either of us. You and I both have known this."

"The only thing that baffles me is how your step-mother could've known where I've been. It's as if she knows everything," Maka uttered.

"Wait...the queen knew about your whereabouts before we found you?" He lowered his tone with suspicion. "Medusa is a magic user. To spy on you without a definite reason and not alert the kingdom is certainly strange..."

"What could she be doing?"

"I have no idea. But I know there is always an ulterior motive to everything she does. Be careful, Maka. She might be planning something sinister," the prince warned.

"How do we know for sure?" Maka leaned towards in with worry.

"We don't. Just keep an eye out for suspicious things." He cleared his throat and straightened his back. "Anyways, Maka." He went over and took her hand. "I hope you understand. This is not an issue of love, but an issue of our duty towards the kingdoms. Whether Medusa is planning or not, or the both of us refuse to marry each other, we have no choice. What must be done must be done." He raised her hand to show the shining silver ring that announced that they were engaged and Maka nodded sadly. "I'll see you in the morning," he said and kissed the back of her hand gently.

"Good night, Kid," she said as she watched him stride away, leaving her alone in the middle of her room with a bitter taste in her mouth.

* * *

The king of the Albarns straightened out his maroon cape and smoothed out the wrinkles in his suit while he walked towards the throne room of the Gorgon queen. Now, he decided, after he gathered up all the courage he could, he would barge into her room and declare that he would rather sacrifice a whole kingdom than let his daughter be unhappily married. He was sure the queen herself would not approve and would probably declare war, but he and his stupid decisions were sure that this would be the right thing to do. This would surely win back the love of his daughter. Spirit was sure that he'd fight a million wars if it kept her safe, even though he didn't quite approve of that shady-looking Soul Eater boy.

He was just about to make it to her door, when he heard two voices inside mingling softly. He leaned his ear against the door carefully.

"How do you know it will work out correctly?" Asked a voice, a young voice of a boy's.

"Don't worry, Justin, my dear," crooned Medusa, her sly tone echoing across the walls. "My plan is working just fine. Now that that stupid little blacksmith is out of my hair and the marriage is in two days, I can guarantee that the Albarn and Gorgons will collide. And when they say 'I do,' _we _will be the new rulers, not that foolish King Spirit."

He chuckled. "Thank you, my queen. I will serve you for as long as I have my magic that you have given unto me. When the prince and princess say their vows..."

"You shall strike. Make sure that you make it a quick and painless death," she commanded.

"Yes, your highness, then I will - " The large double doors swing open, and Spirit was thrown in by a guard.

"Queen Medusa, I have found King Spirit spying on you from outside," the guard, who had snuck up behind him announced.

A mischievous smile creeped on her face as she watched the King stagger up and adjust his crown. "Medusa!" He pointed an accusing finger at her.

"Well, well, if it isn't the beloved King Spirit," she laughed, mildly amused at his determination. "You must've heard an awful lot while you were out there."

"Treacherous witch! What are you planning to do to my daughter?!" He demanded angrily.

"As if telling you would matter." She waved a dismissive hand to the guard and the boy, and they back up cautiously behind Spirit. "But I will, just to satisfy you. Ever since the war, the Gorgon kingdom has always been thought to be an ugly place; we use magic, utter our spells, and do things that no mere human such as yourself could understand. But now, we have grown sick of you and your goodie-goodie little kingdom filled with non-magic users who shun us, and we plan to do something about it." The air seemed to heavy as she stood up from her throne, her black royal dress flowing with the sudden breeze around her. "Nake snake, cobra cobra..." Her hands sparked with blue-white electricity that flashed around her whole body. "After tomorrow, both kingdoms will be under one rule - mine!"

Spirit drew back nervously. "Medusa! What do you think you're doing?!" He yelled over the crackle of electricity. "You will only be declaring war against my people! Is this how you will make peace?"

"Peace? Peace is no longer the subject," she cackled. "You have now become an unwanted problem in my plot." The room darkened, more so than before, and the air began to vibrate dangerously as the evil queen chanted louder and louder. Spirit turned to see that the two behind him had fled to the far corner of the room, and now were watching expectantly to see what would happen next.

"You will never get away with this, Medusa!" He roared over her chanting, but she only smirked.

"Nake snake...Cobra cobra..."

The candles all over the room blew out at once, leaving everything pitch-black.

"Medusa!"

The ground started to rumble.

"I'm afraid this is the last time we will be seeing each other. Ever. Goodbye, King Spirit."

* * *

**A/N: Soooo so sorry for last week's missed update. I am extremely busy this week - I had two school concerts for my orchestra, three tests from my math teacher who was determined to bury his students under a mountain of math homework, a science test, and a history test. Yes, my life is ridiculous at the moment. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter anyways. Please leave a review of what you think!**

**SilverBunni712**


	12. The Assassin's Job

"I've got horrible news, BlackStar." A saddened Tsubaki barged through the door of their home and waved a letter imprinted with a royal stamp. "The princess has been caught. They say they found her in the woods with some mysterious boy who kidnapped her, or so I've heard, and she was brought back. The kingdom announced to its citizens and said that the wedding will go as planned this evening. We have been cordially invited on behalf of the princess to attend the ceremony."

"So the princess is being forced to marry him even after running away?" He asked.

"I'm afraid so. Poor Maka..." Her concerned deep-cerulean eyes gazed down at the letter she was delivered. "I hope I can talk to her before she is wed." She was interrupted by a rough knock at their door. "I wonder who could it be? We must be going to work soon..." she wandered over to the door and opened it and let out a small gasp.

"Good morning, Tsubaki, BlackStar," Queen Medusa stepped into their house, wearing her usual long black dress and holding a fan to shield her face.

"Medusa," the blue-haired boy uttered a growl. "Why are you here?"

"Well," she walked in and closed the door behind her, approaching BlackStar with Tsubaki's worried look eyeing her suspicious behavior. "Is it wrong for a queen to visit her old warrior friend?" She cleared her throat and waved Tsubaki out of the house.

"Um, I'm sorry. I'll be going now..." Upset and worried about the queen's sudden visit, she reluctantly excused herself and snuck out the door.

"I see that the both of you are doing well at barely being able to bring food to the table," the queen said dryly and paced slowly around their room, observing its poor conditions that Tsubaki worked so hard to make nicer. "I've heard you work long hours at the market, selling homemade herbs and medicine that are outdated with newer and better products. Such a waste of talent, you and her are."

"Cut the crap, Medusa," he snarled. "Why are you _really_ here?"

She let out an amused chuckle. "I need you to do a job for me."

"You know I don't work for you anymore," he retorted. "I don't have to listen to anything you say."

"Hm, that's a pity. You used to be one of the most prominent young assassins in the Gorgon army and you could kill any person I requested you to kill without hesitation. You were going to be rich and famous beyond belief. That was, of course, until that nasty injury ended you." BlackStar winced and reached for the large scar that was the shape of a star on his right shoulder as a reminder of the attack that nearly landed him in the grave. "Who knew a simple magic spell could be so powerful? It was all thanks to that girl of yours, whom you took the hit for and saved her life. It's a shame. Really, it is. You could've been so much more."

"Leave Tsubaki out of this, dammit! I sacrificed myself for her on my own will," he sneered. "We're perfectly fine living the way we are!"

"Yes, I see. And that is why you're living in this little shack and working eighteen hours a day, struggling to make dinner from your scraps every night," she countered quickly. "If you do just this one thing for me, then I can give you the life you've always wanted for her. You'll never starve or struggle again."

BlackStar glanced up and searched for emotion in her face. "Do you promise that Tsubaki will have a better life than this one?"

She smiled endearingly. "Of course I do."

He paused and thought. "Then what do you want me to do?"

"I need you to do what you do best: kill."

* * *

She entered quietly and carefully back in her house when she was sure that the queen was no longer there. "BlackStar...?" Tsubaki crept slowly where he sat, staring down at a small piece of paper. "What did the queen want with you?" She asked, her voice fragile and light.

He stood up abruptly, his eyes still glued on the paper and grabbed a knapsack. "Medusa assigned me on a short mission today. I have to travel over to the next town to do some...business."

"W-Why?" she asked.

"Don't worry, ol' BlackStar'll be alright. I can handle anything!" he reassured her and her worry diminished slightly. "I'll need some supplies, but I'll be back by sunset. I'll meet you in the chapel near during the wedding." He walked over to their small food supply and grabbed a few pieces if bread and stuffed them in the bag.

"Why did she ask you, BlackStar? Is it because...is it because you did something wrong?"

"No, it's not that. It's just that I'm the only one who can do it, that's all."

"Okay," she offered a soft smile. "I'll prepare some things for your trip."

"It's okay, I got it," he said, shuffling around for more things to bring with him.

"Are you sure this is enough?" She asked, hovering next to him with concern.

"Don't worry, Tsubaki. I got it. I'll be going now." BlackStar headed out the door and into the morning sun, giving one last glance to ease her.

"Please be safe."

"I will!" He shut the door and walked behind the house while staring at the map. Out of his pocket, he grabbed a small dagger that he snuck while Tsubaki wasn't looking.

His mission was quite simple and was written down on a piece of paper that Medusa had given him: go into the next town and find someone who he'd have to assassinate, then be back in time for the wedding. The journey would be three hours or so, depending on his speed. BlackStar didn't bother to question why she wanted this specific boy killed. He just wanted the queen to keep her promise to the one he cared for deeply for.

* * *

He wasn't allowed to step foot outside the house, according to his father's commands. At night, the stables would be locked so he had no access to the horses. The gates would be closed at all times. The windows would be blocked up until further notice. He couldn't even use the bathroom without permission or supervision. "You might as well lock me in the dungeon," Soul snickered as his father lectured him harshly about his new daily schedule.

"This is for your own good," his mother had reassured him and he rolled his crimson eyes.

"If you knew what was good for me then I wouldn't be here in the first place," he retorted.

"Samuel, we have tried to be gentle with you, but you've left us with no other choice!" His mother raised her voice for the first time in years, to Soul's surprise. "We can't allow you to leave again."

Soul sighed and reclined in his bed, staring listlessly at his blank-white ceiling. There was no way of escape, he thought, and no way he'd be able to see Maka again. He'd have to live here, with his demented step-father and his poor old mother for the rest of his life. He let out another sigh and glanced out the window he used to glance out as a child.

He wondered if they would let him go down to that little pond he used to visit. No, he chuckled, they'd probably skewer him for that question. Besides, it was only two nights ago when they had arrived and he settled in. "Soul," his mother called. "It's time for breakfast."

He wandered down his old hallway, since his house had always been somewhat large and he always was stationed somewhere on the top floor. Maybe he'd asked them if he could go out into the yard just to breathe the fresh air, or make some excuse to check out the workshop and tool shed or something. Something to get away from his supposed father. "If you want me to work here, then I need to take a look at our tool shed first," he said to them. "Then, I promise I'll work."

After exchanging uneasy glances, his father spoke: "Very well then." So he made his way out to the small shed and workshop as slowly as he could. He was glad his house was situated right in the middle of the woods, close enough to the town, but far enough to have privacy. Soul settled down in the small patch of grass next to the open-air workshop that his father worked in and closed his eyes, absorbing the serene forest and gentle breeze. He thought about staying out here for a few good hours, just long enough to clear his head.

Long after he drifted off, Soul was awakened by a rustle in the trees. He ignored it, passing off as the wind. But he soon regretted not caring after a dagger flew from the leaves, nearly stabbing him in the forehead. "What the hell?!" He stumbled backwards on the ground and reached for a crowbar from the shed. "Who's there?!" He demanded to the empty space and jumped up, swinging the crowbar aimlessly.

"YAAHH!" A flash of blue leaped out of the branch above and a spiky-haired boy landed with another dagger in his hand.

"Who the hell are you?" Soul asked.

"I am the mighty warrior BlackStar!" The boy screeched. "I have come here to assassinate you!"

"Why in the hell is everyone tryin' to freakin' kill me these days?!" Soul yelled with frustration as the boy lunged at him and he dodged and avoided a stab wound in his chest. "Why do you wanna kill me in the first place?!"

"I've been ordered by the queen!" He swung at him again, and he dodged again.

"The queen? Why in the hell would she wanna kill me when she sent me home in the first place?!"

"I dunno, but I gotta do my job! I hafta be somewhere after this!"

Soul parried each blow, careful to keep the blade a safe distance, and took a swing at BlackStar. "Dammit, man! Can't you people just stop coming after me for once? I didn't even do anything wrong!" He yelled and they stopped to take a breath.

BlackStar himself didn't seem really interested on having blood spilled; he just wanted to go home. "Hurry up! I've gotta go to some stupid wedding after this!"

"Wait!" Soul paused. "You're going to Maka's wedding?"

"Yeah. And how do you know the princess?"

"I met her, dumbass," Soul sneered, blocking another blow. "I was the guy who she met in the woods."

"You mean you're the guy who kidnapped her?! Damn, you are one freakin' jackass, stealin' a princess like that!"

"I didn't kidnap her, why does everyone say that?!"

BlackStar stopped to gasp for air. Man, he was rusty from years without practice. "Look, I don't care. I just wanna kill you and get outta here!" He took another exhausted stab at the albino boy, who didn't seem tired at all. He stopped for a moment, feeling a sharp pain in his arm that made its way down his chest and to his stomach. It got harder to breathe or move, and world became fuzzy. The would-be assassin's chest started to heave, and he collapsed on his knees, clutching his chest. Turns out, his injury had never left him.

"Hey..." Soul stopped. "Are you okay?"

"Sh-shut up...I'm gonna kill you, I swear...right after this little break," he wheezed and nearly fell over.

Meanwhile, Soul was dumbstruck at his assassinator. "Idiot," he muttered. "I've never seen a stupider killer than you."

"Wait..I'm gonna..." The blue haired boy fell flat on the ground, unconscious.

"Dumbass," Soul muttered. "Now I've got another problem on my hands."

* * *

He woke up with his head hanging down and drool leaking out of his lips. Where was he again? On a mission of some kind? "Hurry up and awaken already," he heard a voice and a shadow appeared in front of him.

"Where am I?" He muttered and fidgeted around in his chair after discovering he was tied tightly to it.

"You're in the same damn place," the albino boy stood in front of him with his arms crossed. "You collapsed while you were tryin' to assassinate me." He looked around and saw that he was in some kind of wooden shack filled with all sorts of weird-looking metal tools.

"Lemme go!" BlackStar struggled with the ropes around him, but they didn't give. "I have somewhere to be!"

"Calm down," he commanded. "Why should I let you go if you're just gonna try to kill me anyways?"

"It's not my fault! Medusa told me to kill you, but she never told me why! Don't blame me for this crap!"

"Then why did you listen to her in the first place?"

BlackStar calmed himself for a moment. "She promised me that she would give me something in return." Soul sighed and turned towards the other tools involuntarily. "Wait...are you gonna kill me or something? You can't! I have someone important waiting for me back at home!"

"I'm not!" Soul interrupted. "I'm just so confused right now...I have no idea what the hell is going on anymore..."

"I have an idea!" He chimed in from his chair. "Why don't I _not _kill you and you set me free?" Soul perked an eyebrow at him and turned around.

"How do I know you're not gonna turn around and stab me with a freakin' dagger?"

"I won't!"

"Now, we don't know that."

"Oh c'mon!"

"Shut up, I'm trying to think." He paced over to the door of the shed. "I'll be back in a moment." Soul made his way down tot he only place he knew to be safe and assassin-free - the pond.

He ducked his head under the water with relief and felt the cold numb away his pain, splashing his face in the water and rubbing his cheeks cold. He didn't want anything to do with his parents, or BlackStar, or the kingdoms, or anything. The only thing that this mind was focused on was Maka. Only Maka. He splashed more cold in his face and eyes and ran his fingers through his mussed white hair.

Soul took a deep breath of forest air and sat back. "What do I do now?" He murmured to himself. Then there was another rustle. "Are you freaking joking?! Who else is here to kill me?" He grabbed the nearest stick and chucked it at the source, and the bush grunted. "Huh? Who's there?" A hand suddenly reached out from the bush and a man crawled out. "Wh-who are you?!"

The man, with red messy twig-filled hair, looked seriously injured and managed to drag himself towards the edge of the water. He spotted Soul sitting opposite of him, and mouthed the word 'help.' He rushed over to him and aided the half-conscious man to stand. "Hey! What happened to you?!" The man brushed his collar and ripped off his maroon-red cape around his neck. "Wait...you're the - "

"Thank you," he murmured. "I thought I would die out there."

"You're the king," Soul muttered in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Medusa..." he managed. "She hit me with some spell...and I was knocked unconscious and I don't know how I got here." He grunted with pain as Soul lifted his arm over his shoulder and helped him towards his house.

"Medusa did this?!"

"Yes, she is..." His eyes shot open in sudden realization. "Oh, no...she' planning something...but I can't remember anything...We must hurry! Back to the castle!"

"Hold on, old man. I don't think you're in any condition to go anywhere, much less walk."

Soul helped him and rested him against shed where BlackStar was. "I should've seen this coming...that blasted witch..."

"What's with that queen?"

"Hey!" BlackStar called from inside. "What's happening out there?"

He kicked down the door of the shed and led an injured Spirit inside. "No! I remember now! She's planning on killing Kid and Maka as soon as they say their dues! We must stop her!"

"Can someone tell me what in the hell is going on here?!" BlackStar interrupted. "Why is the king here?"

"Change of plans," Soul grabbed the dagger and sliced open the assassin's ropes, setting him free. "I think King Spirit would know most of what's going on."

"Medusa's been fooling everyone," he began nervously. "There's a sinister reason behind everything she does and says."

"She sent me here to kill him," BlackStar said. "I don't know why, though."

"And she knew where I was the whole time," Soul added.

"That's exactly what she wanted; we are just her little pawns in her quest to conquer both kingdoms. What did she promise you in return?" He asked BlackStar.

"She didn't say exactly. She just said I'd be able to give someone a better life."

"And you believed her," he finished. "That would've been a sore mistake. She needed to get everyone and everything in her way out. So she tried to kill me so I couldn't prevent the wedding from happening, and she tried to get you out of the way so you wouldn't interfere." He pointed at Soul.

"Wait! You said something about her killing Maka and Kid!" Soul said.

"Yes...I remember now. I spied on her two days ago and found out her evil plot to kill the heirs of the kingdom so it would become hers. She said she would kill my daughter..."

"Then we have to stop her!" The blue-haired boy chimed, completely forgetting about his mission and was offended that he was almost tricked by the woman he used to protect with his life.

"We need to interrupt that wedding before Maka and Kid say 'I do.' Or else they'll die and we'll be taken over by the queen herself," Soul said. "I can't let her hurt Maka!"

"I will make sure I destroy anyone who tries to hurt my precious daughter...As king, I won't allow her to win! What time is the wedding?"

BlackStar said, "It's in a few hours in the evening, but it'll be a long journey by foot."

"Don't worry," Soul interrupted. "I have a way to get there faster."

He tugged open the stables and revealed his two horses in their pens. "Let's hurry. Before my parents get here - "

"Samuel Evans!" His mother's worried voice called from the house. "What are you doing? Who are those men?" She trotted out to all of them and offered a hopeless look.

"Mom, Maka - er, I mean the kingdom is in trouble."

"Who are these people?"

"There's no time to explain. Don't try to stop me. I need to do this," he said as he mounted his horse.

"I apologize, miss," Spirit said. "But my daughter and my kingdom are in trouble."

"My son..." she said slowly.

"Mom, this is something I have to do! I have to protect the one I love and -"

"I understand," she said finally. "Just...be careful!" She waved them a lonely goodbye and watched as they rode off into under the blazing sun of the afternoon, their horses leaving behind a cloud of dust. "My son will be a hero," she whispered to herself gladly.

* * *

**A/N: Question guys, did this chapter feel a bit rushed? I know I wrote a lot here so I could get more info in and make up for the late update, but did it all happen to fast? Just wanna make sure before this story turns into something messy. Thanks for reading and leave a review!**

**I have a feeling most of you already know that I changed my pen name, so I don't need to explain :)**

**~Amber **


	13. A Witch's Evil Plot

As soon as the chapel doors creaked open, and the kingdom beheld their princess in her beautiful white gown and veil with a series of "oohs" and "ah's," the organ started to play and she walked down the carpeted aisles, past the rows of benches filled with her adoring citizens with her Papa's arm wrapped around hers. At the altar, waited Kid who was dressed in his best outfit the Gorgon castle could manage - a pure white suit that could accommodate his need for a symmetrical self and regality. Spirit led his young daughter down with a look of pride to where her groom - and her fate - stood before her. After lifting the veil, Kid looked at his soon-to-be bride.

The priest, a young man with blonde hair and a black cross engraved on the chest of his suit, opened the honorary book and began to read: "We are gathered here to today to witness the combination of not only two kingdoms, but two young heirs as well..." he began slowly. Maka glanced down towards the floor, her mind riddled with regretful thoughts. Soon, they began to dart about the room, searching for the strange white-haired red-eyed boy, but he wasn't there. She only spotted Tsubaki giving her a tender smile. _As if he'd come to see me be taken away from him_, she thought woefully and turned her gaze back to Kid. Far in the back of the chapel, Medusa lay in wait, standing behind a large white column that partially hid her from sight. _Soon_, she thought with wicked glee.

The priest cleared his throat and continued, snapping Maka out of her daze. "Do you, Prince Kid, take this young lady, Maka Albarn, to be your loving wife?"

With only the slightest hesitation, Kid answered, "I do," and took her hands and caressed them gently.

He tuned to Maka. "And do you, Princess Maka, take this young man to be your loving husband?"

Maka bit her lip, chewing over some words before they could spill out of her mouth. "Um..." she faltered and glanced around for even a glimmer of hope, for her knight in shinning armor to barge through the doors. But no one came.

"I...I do."

* * *

"Dammit!" Soul cursed under his breath, arched over the horse while it ran at its fullest speed. "Can't you go any faster?!"

"If the wedding his happening now, then there' nothing we can do about it," Spirit chimed in from behind him. "We will be too late."

"Not if I can get this damn horse to move! C'mon!" He whipped the reigns and the horse whinnied indignantly, clopping faster against the gravel as the forest scene around them flew by with its speed. He could hear BlackStar's horse struggling to catch up. "Giddy up!" He slapped the reigns once more, feeling as if he were traveling faster than the wind itself.

"There! I can see the chapel in the distance!" BlackStar pointed.

* * *

"I...I do." She said solemnly, and Medusa curled a smile on her lips. _It is time..._

"If there is anyone who wishes to oppose this marriage, then speak now or forever hold your peace!" He announced, and Maka begged silently for someone, _anyone_ to help, her pleading emerald eyes seen by the twins and Tsubaki, none of who were courageous enough to speak up. "Now that there are no objections, I would like to seal this marriage by having the newly-weds drink out of the traditional gold cup, symbolizing their unity as one and love for each other!" He reached below the altar and lifted up a large golden cup filled with a wine-red liquid, and held it out to Kid and Maka.

Medusa's evil smile only widened; it was in that cup that she knew her loyal servant Justin, the priest, had slipped some magic poison that was concocted by the queen herself, and she knew it was absolutely lethal and incurable. "Farewell, prince and princess. It is time for a new ruler to rise," she murmured to herself with feverish anticipation.

"Now," Justin continued as Maka and Kid held the base of the cup with their hands and stared at the liquid unsteadily. "If the bride and groom may, then the groom shall be the first to take a sip." They both helped lift it up to his mouth, and the prince slowly brought the cup to his lips and tilted it slightly so that the drink edged towards the tips of of lip slowly. The audience watched silently, until a loud shriek disrupted him from taking that fatal sip.

"YAH!" Came a loud battle cry, along with a bang that knocked down the doors with a startling thump. In the doorway stood the albino boy, with the enraged blue-haired assassin and the injured king.

The crowd gasped as their king stumbled into the chapel, grasping his side and screaming accusations at the queen. "Stop this wedding at once!" He yelled, while Medusa wore a look of sudden disgust.

"K-King Spirit?!" Kid gaped in disbelief as he saw the king, as well as another king who had been in the chapel and led Maka down the aisle.

"You damn witch! You tried to kill me! And you made an impostor of me!" He pointed to the Spirit that was sitting in the front row.

Maka dropped the poisonous cup, its deep red liquid spilling all over the floor, and ran to her hurt-looking father. Confusion came upon the crowd as the king they saw sitting in the front row disintegrated into little fragments of dust that fluttered away. "Papa! What happened?! What's going on?!" She ran into his arms and hoisted him up as Soul helped him. "Soul," she acknowledged his presence with gladness.

"I told you I was coming," he replied softly.

Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty rushed over from their seats, bewildered. "What's going on?!" Asked Liz.

"That queen..." Spirit huffed out. "Tried to kill me. She's tricked us all. She's been planning this whole time to kill you after you were married so she could keep the kingdoms for herself!"

A confused Kid followed after the interruption. "What is the meaning of all this? I don't understand!"

"Didn't you hear the king?" Soul said. "Queen Medusa's evil. She tried to kill me and Spirit and if it weren't for us getting here on time she would've killed you too. She wants the kingdom, all the power, for herself!"

All eyes turned to her, whose displeased look told everything. "Oh! King Spirit, how could you accuse me of such things!" She said innocently.

"Stop the ruse, Medusa. We all know you're lying," Spirit grunted as his daughter tried to offer him support.

"Give it up already!" BlackStar growled at her.

"Mother! Is this true?!" Kid demanded and stepped forward.

Medusa shunk against the column slightly; her plan would not be ruined by some foolish king and a bunch of little kids, she thought maliciously. She glanced at Justin and he nodded. "Hm. I should've killed you when I got the chance," she chuckled at Spirit. "Well, I suppose it's time to stop faking it; yes, everything the king said was of the utmost truth. The cup that you were about to drink from was laced with poison and would've killed you both once it was swallowed. And when you all were gone and out of the way, I would take my place as the rightful ruler over this land. I'm afraid you've caught me in the act," she sighed and raised her hands.

"It's time to stop you from harming anyone else further!" Spirit snarled at her. "Guards! Arrest her!" The castle guards who stood at the door in their stiff armor didn't budge. "I said arrest her!" He ordered again. "Aren't you listening to me?!" They didn't respond or even blink an eye. "Hello? This is your king speaking!"

After a moment of silence from everyone, Medusa interrupted with a small chuckle that became louder as their confusion grew. "It seems that you have once again underestimated my plans, my dear king."

"What are you talking about, Medusa? These are my guards and they must obey me!"

"Certainly so, they are guards. But right now they are not of their own free will," she said and Spirit gazed into the blank stare, realizing that they were under the control of her magic. "And that's not all," she smiled evilly and ducked her head, beginning to murmur a chant. "Your little guards aren't the only ones in the room who are controlled by me...Rise! My slaves!" The whole chapel began to tremble, and the air was filled with the cackle of electricity and her laughter. "Rise!" She cried again, and the whole audience stood up and marched out of their seats, their eyes filled with the same blank look as the guards.

"Medusa!" Kid growled as the people surrounded them. "What have you done?!"

She laughed. "Take a good look at their faces, Kid and Spirit. Look closely. You might recognize one, or a few, or even all of them!"

Kid glared at the mob, and suddenly his face lit up. "These are the missing villagers from before! You've been gathering them for this very day?!"

"Yes, after two years of meticulous planning and thinking, I waited for this day to come," she roared over the hum of sparks as Justin appeared by her side.

"I, too, have waited along with you, my queen," he bowed to her and his wrist began to morph into a blade. "I owe my life to you ever since you saved me by giving me magical powers."

"Now, my servants, crush them all!" With the raise of her hands, the spell summoned weapons over her head that floated into their hands. "No one escapes alive today!"

The army of hypnotized civilians loomed towards them like a hoard of zombies, and Soul grabbed the swords from the guards and pried it from their unmoving hands, handing one to Kid while BlackStar ripped out the daggers from his pocket. "Girls, King Spirit, get back!" Kid ordered Maka and the others. "It's too dangerous without weapons!"

Maka stepped out against one of the men and showed him what self defense she had learned during her time as a princess - a round-house kick she delivered right into his stomach, and she grabbed his weapon while he lay on the ground, moaning with pain. "It's okay. I can fight, too!"

Medusa and Justin glared down at their opposition. "I think we should start by getting rid of the root of the problem: the silly little princess who decided to run away and cause all this trouble in the first place! Nake snake, cobra cobra..." The doors slammed shut tightly behind them, and a wave of dark fog swept through the church floor and surrounded everything. "I think it's time to end this, don't you think?"

Soul stepped in front of Maka protectively, pointing his sword at the queen. "I won't let you hurt her!"

She let out an amused laugh at his determination. "Very well then. But I wonder if _she_ won't let me hurt _you_?" She raised a finger and a cloud of black engulfed the both of them, and Maka grabbed onto Soul's hand.

"Soul!" She called as her helpless friends watched as Soul's grip on her hands loosen, and he disappeared into the black cloud. "Medusa!" She screamed with rage. "What did you do?! Let him go!"

"Nake snake, cobra cobra..." She continued to chant as the black fog surrounded her and the ground began to shake. The fog swooped to the front of the room where the altar was, and her chanting grew louder. "Now you can see the true power of my magic!" Out of the darkness, something black and shiny began to form. Medusa hissed, her body contorting and flattening, her arms shrinking into her body and her legs morphing together. Black scales started to form on her face and spread down to her neck and then her chest and then to every part of her body, while she continued her transformation. She roared so loud it shook the structure and even Justin, who stood next to her with a nervous glance as she left her human form and became something sinister.

With her spell complete, her body had become much larger and longer than it normally was. Her pointed golden eyes glowed in the darkness and glared right at Maka. "What...what is that?!" She muttered to herself as the smoke and fog cleared, revealing a long scaly body wrapped around the altar and a forked tongue pointing from its mouth.

"My true magical form - a snake body that I had designed myself! Do you like it?!" She hissed in a screeching metallic voice. In the middle of her coils was Soul, wrapped around tightly by the rest of her body.

"Soul!" Maka yelled as she saw him squirm in the giant snake's grasp. "Let him go!"

The black snake cackled in her raspy voice. "If you want him, then come and get him."

* * *

**A/N: I don't want to admit it, but this fairy tale is coming to an end. **

**Anyways, in other news, I'm letting people vote for my new upcoming story! All of the details and the choices are on my profile, so I would appreciate it greatly if you voted because the new story will be released at the end of this month! **

**What did you think of this chapter? Leave a review and let me know. **

**~Amber**


	14. The Final Battle

"Then come and get him," the giant black snake sneered, narrowing her glowing yellow eyes at the princess. Maka glanced back and watched as the rest of her friends dealt with with hypnotized crowd. She took her sword and chopped off a sizable and heavy part of her gown and ripped out the extra fabric that would weigh her down. Gripping her sword dangerously tight, she charged at Medusa with the point aimed right for her scaly body, until a blade suddenly blocked her own.

"Halt!" The priest had stepped in her way, the guillotine blade on his wrist grating against hers. "I won't let you touch my queen!"

The two struggled, sword against blade, until Justin began to overpower her and pushed her back. Her strength was draining, she thought immediately and tried to draw out all the power she could muster.

"Maka!" Soul's sudden voice screamed out to her. "Watch out! His other arm!"

She glanced down and nearly was sliced in half, jumping back as Justin swung his other blade-arm from below. "No fair," he crooned. "That's cheating."

"No fair for you?" Maka retorted, regaining her fighting stance. "You're the one using magic!"

"I suppose that's so," he replied. "But it doesn't matter when you're in battle. All the matters is if you win or not!" He lunged and she dodged, knocking into one of the aisles and stumbling upon the altar. "Come here, girl, so I can slice you up in front of my dear Medusa!" Justin attacked the space in front of her and she struggled to lift her sword fast enough. Sprinting to the side, she was grazed in the side of her dress and she cried out in pain, clutching the wound that leaked with deep red blood. Soul watched in horror and Medusa gazed at her priest with approval.

"Now, kill her," she ordered him. He loomed over the fallen princess with a raised arms, its blade gleaming above her.

"As you wish..."

"Maka! Get up! I didn't train you so you could fall down! You're a blacksmith now!" Soul yelled, and the sound of his voice filled her with surging strength and she rolled to the side as his guillotine arm came downwards, striking the empty ground and leaving an impressive dent. She could not be weak, she reminded herself with a fierce determination.

"Get back!" Maka sneered and gave him a good kick in his black cross from the floor, sending him a few steps backwards.

He coughed and clenched his gut where Maka landed her blow. "Damn you..." he uttered and straightened his back. He clenched his teeth in rage and the blades grew bigger. "You will pay for this!" He raised his hands in the air and began a chant. Once again, the air came alive with the crackle of electricity. "Take this! Guillotines, fall!" Sharp-looking blades materialized above them and fell downwards. Frantically, Maka zig-zagged around and tried to avoid getting sliced in half by the falling blades. They magically appeared all around her in a semi-circle, cutting off her escape until she had to turn back to the altar, cornered by the surrounding blades that threatened to chop her in half. Then she spotted something, something that she hoped would be able to stop him.

"Hurry up, Justin. You are trying my patience," the snake said stiffly and he stepped towards her more eagerly. Maka bent down and grasped it.

"Yes my queen!" He shouted and charged at her. But Maka knew he next move already: her hand moved towards the side, where the golden cup lay on the floor with only a small bit of poison remaining, and flung it at him. The drink flew everywhere, and she shielded her face from any drops from getting on her. "Gah!" He roared with pain as the magic drink splashed in his face, sizzling on contact.

"Impossible!" Medusa hissed and watched her priest crumple to the floor, immobile. "Clever girl..."

Maka stood up and wiped the dust off herself, while the commotion near the entrance of the church continued...

* * *

"BlackStar, behind you!" Kid warned the boy as a sword thrusted towards his back and he dodged, slashing at the person with his daggers. "Don't hurt them! They're just innocent people!"

"I know already! But it's not like I'm gonna shower them in some cookies and rainbows!" He snickered.

Under the clatter of metal clashing and chaos breaking out, Liz and Patty had snatched some weapons of their own, and were working together to fight off the citizens aside Kid and BlackStar and Spirit. "Patty, make sure you don't actually hurt them!" Liz shielded her sister from a man who came at her with a shaky sword.

"Okay, sis!" Patty cheerily whacked another man in the back and sent him flying into another man next to him with a low groan.

"Be careful!"

"Sis, behind you!" They worked together in perfect sync, watching each others backs like sisters should, but were growing more tired by each enemy. "There's too many!" Liz grunted as she parried a blow that was aimed for her head, and her legs grew shaky. They went back-to-back and battled off like such and made sure that no enemy could hurt them.

The crowd seemed like they were infinite, when really it was just the same people who rose up over and over again, persisting until their little force became exhausted. Even the king himself fought beside BlackStar, who was careful to keep a close eye on him just in case Spirit couldn't handle the battle anymore. "Hang in there, old man," BlackStar assured him. Spirit leaned against the closed chapel door to rest for a moment while the assassin continued to fight.

"I may be injured, but right now we need to keep these people away from Maka and Soul. They must fight Medusa on their own."

Kid thrusted his sword at the onslaught of people, but he realized it was easier said than done when it came to fighting them. "Damn!" He cursed to himself as the army overwhelmed him and he fell backwards.

The ones with weapons grabbed at his suit and held him still, while the others who had approached him with their swords drawn. "Liz, Kid's in trouble!" Patty tapped her twin on the shoulder and Liz whipped around and ran towards the prince. Right before the enemy could drive his sword through his heart, Liz tackled him to the ground. Heroically, she could argue. They were angered, the crowd, at her disturbance and turned their attention to her instead.

"Liz..." Kid looked at his savior as she battled them off courageously. He jumped right in with her. "I've got your back!"

* * *

Medusa hissed and sneered with wicked laughter as the point of Maka's sword dug into her black scales with no success. "It's useless, girl. You think I'd settle for average skin? I've reinforced each scale with a magic that is impervious to any regular weapon!" She smiled and Maka tried even hard to pry the scales away while Soul struggled to break free of her constricting grasp.

"Maka, back up!" Soul warned her of the snake's moves, but Maka was too slow to react to the flick of her hardened tail like armor that flung her backwards into the aisle, almost into a guillotine. _Damn_, she thought. _At this rate, I'm gonna lose to her..._

She struggled to think for a solution while she laughed mockingly and squeezed Soul tighter as he gasped for air. "Let him go, or I swear..." she growled.

"You'll do what now?" She asked with cruel delight. "As you can see, this is a battle that you will not win..."

_She may have impenetrable armor, but there is one weak spot... _

Maka reared up and prepared to attack, and Medusa sensed her determination with a hiss of disgust. She barreled for the snake with her sword risen above her head. "You can't break my skin, stupid girl!"

"As if I'd even try!" she retorted and kept running. Medusa rose her sleek black tail and flung it downward, just as the princess expected. As soon as the long tail came at her, she dodge to the right, leaped on her scaly body and ran up her slippery coils.

Soul watched with awe as she struggled to keep her footing on Medusa's body, using the tip of her sword to anchor her to Medusa to keep her balance. "Get off me!" The queen roared and thrashed her tail, but didn't dare let her grip loosen on the boy.

"Take this!" She jumped towards her face and slashed the blade down at her left golden eye and pieced it, leaving the sword lodged in her pupil. She wailed with pain, her thrashing growing more desperate to get the sword out of her eye, and Maka scrambled to pull Soul from her squirming grasp. Finally, he slipped free and they jumped down with relief.

The queen howled in pain and her body began to steam, probably from the rage boiling within her, and two arms sprouted from her sides and slinked up to her wounded eye. "You..." She pulled out the sword and shook her snout and the energy around them caused to ground to shake. "YOU WILL PAY!"

"Maka! Watch out!" Soul yanked her hand and pulled her out of the way of a falling guillotine that once again materialized over their heads. Many blades rained from the sky in their semi-circle and the room seemed to stretch bigger, the entrance and their friends getting farther away. "She's using space-distortion magic!"

Their tremulous ground took a sudden halt and the guillotines stopped falling and Medusa's snake form returned to normal, her slashed eye beginning to close up slowly. "What? She's healing herself already?!" Maka said to herself.

"Well, what are you expecting, girl?! That little boy of yours may have been able to escape and you may have been able to get me once, but you are still powerless!" She reared her head and her eyes burned an even brighter yellow.

"She's impossible to kill now..." Soul muttered, his teeth clenching. "I don't even know how to go about defeating her anymore."

"Wait..." Maka's thoughts reeled around in her head to form an idea. "She said that only magic can hurt her, right?" Soul nodded. "Then that's what we're gonna use."

Medusa licked her lips and prepared to strike. "How are we gonna do that? We don't have any magic!" Soul hissed at her.

Maka offered a confident smirk. "Just watch and follow me," she said firmly and drew her sword, eyeing her surroundings.

"Now...I think I'll just get rid of you myself..." She slithered towards them and raised her head and glared at Maka.

"Now!" Soul and Maka darted away as her fangs bared and lunged at them, landing in an empty floor. Medusa hissed, frustrated about getting her sharp teeth nailed into the wood by the impact, and she pulled the floor up with her.

"I think I'll just the root of the problem: you!" She snaked after the princess and blacksmith, who jolted around the fallen blades.

"Why aren't you attacking? She's gonna catch up to us!" Soul yelled, nearly tripping over a guillotine jutting from the floor.

"Just wait!" She answered back. "You'll see in a moment! Keep running!" They were nearing the end of the semi-circle.

"You can't run!" Medusa roared as she trailed behind, thwacking the guillotines out of her way with a swish of her tail, bulldozing everything in her path.

When they had finally reached the end their path was blocked by a looming guillotine that threatened to behead them if they took a single step. "Dead end..." Soul pointed out while Maka's gaze was concentrated on the ceiling above them.

"Perfect," she said and gripped her sword tighter as she spotted her target. "Hold on, Soul."

The rumbling that followed them stopped, and Medusa laughed at them. "Time's up, princess! Off with your heads!" She bared her shiny white teeth that dripped with a sinister green venom and prepared to strike.

"I don't think so, Medusa!" Maka drew her sword backwards and the snake hesitated. "Off with _your_ head!" She swung around the chucked the sword directly at the ceiling, seemingly aimed at the air and nothing else in particular. Soul squinted upwards as a clanking sound reverberated around.

"Foolish girl," Medusa hissed and lunged. "DIE!"

"Maka!" Soul grabbed her suddenly and turned, hugging her protectively as a shield. The small clank echoed again. The guillotine above them fell, its chain severed by the sword. A large thud. Then, silence.

She slowly opened her eyes, feeling the grip of Soul still hugging her tight against his body, and turned to where Medusa once slithered on. He stopped cringing and looked up with her. A beheaded snake lay dead in front of them, its golden eyes open but not illuminated, its head cut off cleanly by the fallen guillotine, its tail still flailing behind it. Purple liquid dribbled its body as its tongue lolled out of its mouth, and its eyes seemed to be affixed on an empty space. Medusa was dead.

Maka trotted over to the lifeless head triumphantly. "Try to heal that, Medusa," she snickered.

* * *

**A/N: Only one more chapter, I guess. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed in nonetheless. **

**By the way, have any of you guys heard or played a game called Ib? I've played it and I'm stuck on it because it spews awesomeness and I think you should try it (and it's also the cause of why I updated so late...)**

**Leave a review or else Medusa will...oh wait, she's dead. Never mind then. Just leave a review anyways Lol.**

**Also, don't forget to vote! Here are the standings so far:**

**Melt: 11 votes**

**I like you, I love you: 5 votes**

**The Melancholy of Maka Albarn: 3 votes**

**~Amber **


	15. A Fairy Tale Ending

Kid loosened the grip on his sword as he saw the hypnotized hoard falter and stop. Confusion appeared in their eyes and their shoulders slumped and they seemed frozen in their places. The man whose sword grated against Kid's suddenly let go, and he fell to his knees in a daze. Liz's breath quivered. "What happened?" She asked.

Kid's sullen face brightened up. "Maka and Soul did it," he said.

The people began to awaken from their haze, shaking their heads and rubbing their eyes, wondering why they were holding weapons. Spirit stood up and relaxed next to BlackStar. All the way in the back of the church, the guillotines started to boil and melt away, until only Maka and Soul stood in the center of the room, staring intently at the severed snake head, their hands tightly intertwined. "Maka! Soul!" The king shouted at them. "Are you alright?"

Maka tilted her head slightly and brought herself back from her disbelief. She glanced at Soul and he smirked. "That was pretty damn impressive, _your highness_," he chuckled.

"Well, you must've taught me well," she chuckled.

"Damn right I did," he laughed.

Liz and Patty and Tsubaki and BlackStar simultaneously sighed with relief. "Yah!" The blue-haired assassin raised his fist triumphantly. "I told ya I'd kick her ass!" The quiet Tsubaki, who had been behind a pillar after the battle subsided sighed with relief to herself.

"Finally," Spirit said, clutching his injured side. "That old hag is finally gone. We may finally have peace."

Inside that chapel, a feeling of calmness swept over the crowd as they come to their senses, and Spirit announced that they had been simply under a small spell that disoriented the mind, finally putting them at ease. After he dismissed them and they had all left, only the group had remained. Medusa's head did not remain forgotten, but the church definitely had a lighter atmosphere to it now. As if a pure energy had purged all of the darkness away.

"Urgh..." Justin's unmoving body began to shiver, and he awoke. Kid and BlackStar drew their swords and Soul stepped in front of Maka, but Spirit held out his arm. "Wh...what happened?"

Spirit stood over him with a firm gaze. "It's over now," he said as Justin rose from the ground, rubbing his eyes. Justin peered up and adjusted his view, spotting his queen's head sitting still and away from her body on the chapel carpet, purple blood staining the floor.

He collapsed on his knees. "My queen! What have you done?!" He began, but Spirit closed his eyes.

"I said it's over now. Medusa is dead, and we can finally return to normal. You no longer owe her and you are released from her service."

The priest glanced at the group, then at her head with a confused glare. "Medusa is...dead...Impossible!" He shot up, holding out his hands to attack.

"Papa! Watch out!" Maka cried.

Justin called forth his blades and aimed them directly at the king, but nothing happened. No blades appeared, no guillotines materialized above their heads. He became even more enraged. "Why aren't my powers working?!" He shouted angrily.

"You powers were granted by Medusa, weren't they?" Spirit began slowly. "Since Medusa is gone now, so is your source of magic. Guards! Arrest him."

Bewildered as the they hauled him away, Justin glared at the group and spat curses until he was brought out the door. Spirit sighed a turned his attention back to the group. "Is everyone okay?"

BlackStar nodded. "I told ya we could do it."

Tsubaki rushed to his side. "Are you sure you're not injured or anything?" She asked worriedly and started examining and poking at him while he gave a cocky laugh, saying that he was a ninja god and did fine.

"Well, he have quite some work to do after everything that's happened here..." Kid observed while cradling his chin, glancing around at the damage.

"You're right," Maka continued his words. "We have a whole kingdom waiting to see what happens after their queen..."

"Had simply resigned from her duty as queen," Spirit finished. "I'm sure they wouldn't be surprised to find that the _real_ heir has officially claimed the throne as the rightful ruler. There is no more need to fight anymore."

"So marriage is off?" Liz chirped in.

"The marriage should have been off years ago. But I was too blind to see that," he answered sadly. "And I blindly put my daughter in harms way. I'm sorry, Maka."

Her gaze softened with guilt. "You did what you had to do," she answered quietly.

"But what does it matter now?" Soul cut in. "What's done is done. Kid's right. We have things to take care of. People wanna know what happened here, right?"

"You're right. I'll spread the news that the wedding was cancelled due to the fact that Medusa relinquished the throne, and I shall declare that the war had been long over," Kid stated.

"What about the rest of us?" Tsubaki asked.

"Well, since this ordeal is finally over, I suppose life will return to normal..."

"I wouldn't say that," Soul interrupted.

Maka paused, thinking hard and racking her brain for an idea. "A marriage is out of the question...but...Soul!" She turned to him suddenly. "How would you like to become the Albarn Kingdom's new royal blacksmith? You get to work here, in our castle, and you don't have to go back. You can stay here, with me!" She smiled and took his hands, looking towards her father for approval. "Please?"

"Lemme give it some thought..." The newly hired blacksmith perked up his head and caressed Maka's hands. "I'll take it. On one condition, though."

"What?"

He turned to BlackStar. "I've heard that BlackStar here needs a job, and he used to serve Queen Medusa as her official guard. But since Medusa's gone, he'll have no one to protect anymore..." The assassin boy nodded vigorously and hopefully. "So, maybe, a certain king would want a very strong person to protect him, then he'd get hired for the job."

"Hm..." Spirit gave a light-hearted shrug. "We need a royal guard for hire, after all."

BlackStar held his breath.

"Perhaps we can appoint him as our new royal bodyguard, seeing that his fighting is quite skillful. Living as a royal guard requires his services all the time though, and he and his friend must move to the castle where they will live. But only if you agree to these conditions, of course."

"Yes! I do, I swear!" BlackStar saluted and swung around to Tsubaki, grabbing her hands and shaking them. "Tsubaki! We're gonna live in a castle like you've always wanted!"

The boy beamed at the king then at Tsubaki proudly, and she replied with a modest smile. "We can finally live just like we've always dreamed of living," she said. "I told you that all of our toiling would lead to something..."

"Sis!" Patty whispered to her sister. "Everyone's having a happy ending! Is this what a fairy tale feels like?"

Liz shrugged. "Fairy tale? Patty, this is real life, there's no such thing as fairy tale endings. Besides, I still haven't had mine yet..."

Behind her, a frustrated Kid let out a groan. "No, no, this is not right at all..."

Patty gave her sister an encouraging nudge. "Hey, Kid..." Liz began with a shaky voice. "Um, whatcha doin'?"

Kid jerked around, his shoulders stiff, a disgusted look on his face. "No, no, no! Can't anyone else see this ghastly monstrosity in front of us?! It simply won't work...the left side of the church is slightly lopsided and the right sticks up and there is a mess all over the floor...and there is a purple stain everywhere...how are we gonna clean up this mess?!" He huffed and grabbed the sides of his head, pulling at his black locks of hair.

There was a light tap on his tense shoulder. "I think I can help you clean this mess up..." Liz said.

He gasped an over-exaggerated gasp. "R-Really? Finally! Someone who appreciates the sophisticated elegance of symmetry and perfection!" Hastily grabbing her wrists and pulling her towards the mess, Liz glanced back and spotted Patty giving her a thumbs-up, and she smiled with a slight blush as Kid continued to rant.

"Told ya so. Happy endings _do_ exist!" She chirped to herself.

* * *

**2 Months Later...**

"Mmm..." She rolled to her side to avoid the early morning sunlight from hitting her eyes and buried her face in the pillow. _Maka_...

She pulled the covers over her ears to block out the sounds. "Maka..."

"5 more minutes..." the sleepy princess muttered, but the voice persisted. She felt the side of her bed sink down and reluctantly opened her eyes. "Later, Soul."

"Not now, Maka, there's no time to sleep. Today's an important day," he said and pulled the covers off her tired body.

"Too early!" She fought back by tugging them back.

"We're gonna be late, princess." He gave up on their game of tug-o-war and leaned over her, nudging her shoulders. "You were the one who was most excited about it anyways." She groaned as he guided her upwards, her eyes still shut, still too exhausted to move. "You wanna go, right?"

"Uh..." she muttered and let herself leaned into Soul's chest, resting her cheek on his collar. She could tell he was in his blacksmith's outfit, apron and all, goggles hanging from his neck, a black smudge of coal brushed against his cheek. He smelled like smoke from a strong fire.

His chest heaved a sigh and he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight against his bosom, and she sighed with content in the comfort of his warmth. "Please don't tell me you're gonna sleep all day," he murmured in a gentler voice.

"Tired..." Soul raised his fingers and weaved them in between her strands of faded gold hair, stroking the knots from it. Slowly, he coaxed her upwards and off the side of the bed, letting her toes feel around the cold bedroom floor.

"Don't make me drag you outta bed, Maka," he smiled playfully at the thought and hoisted her onto the floor, guiding her to her dresser.

"Okay, I'm gonna go," she sighed and made her way to the bathroom to get ready. "I know that today's a big day."

Rushing out of the castle and into the carriage that had been waiting for their arrival, the King and Princess and blacksmith traveled all the way to the Gorgon Kingdom for the ceremony. Spirit glanced out the window and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes while Maka and Soul waited patiently as the carriage bumped along the gravel road. Soul silently recounted the events that had happened during their past two months - the feeling of relief when the Albarns had sent a letter, assuring his parents that he was now working in the castle, getting the chance of reliving his first dinner with Maka every night, sitting with her in the courtyard and tinkering away at his little gadgets while she read quietly up in her favorite tree, working in his new workshop that was ten times larger than his old shack, Liz and Patty being requested by Prince Kid to stay for a bit at his castle to help him, and finally, getting to see BlackStar adorn his new royal outfit that announced his new job as protector of the royal family

"You're late," BlackStar said as they arrived, emerging from the carriage. He escorted them to the courtyard where a crowd of elegantly dressed up people stood and were staring straight ahead at a platform that raised in the middle of their garden. Kid sat to the right side with Liz at his side, and an ancient-looking priest stood in the middle holding up a blindingly shiny object: a crown.

" - and with that, I shall now crown the new king of the Gorgon Kingdom, the former Prince Kid!" The man announced and that crowd gave a polite and dainty applause.

Kid rose and bent down in front of the man and he bestowed the new crown on his head. Liz watched from her side wearing a prideful smile, a silver ringing flashing in the sunlight on her left fourth finger. "Congratulations, Liz," Maka murmured to herself.

"Now," he continued. "Now we will move on with the crowning of your new queen, Miss Elizabeth Thompson!" Another round of light clapping.

The ceremony had been completed, and the Gorgon Kingdom now had two new leaders who were quite young in age, but wise nonetheless. "Maka!" Liz trotted down from the stage and through the crowd to the princess, and hugged her quickly. "So glad you came!"

While Liz was busy squeezing the life from Maka, Spirit, who stood next to Soul, leaned down to him. "Hm, I hope this day will come for you two later than I expect," the king sighed.

"What do you mean? Me and Maka?" Soul said, slightly surprised.

"Heh," he let out a gentle chuckle. "Who else? I have seen the way you two look at each other, and that's enough proof for a father to know."

"And you're okay with it?"

Spirit huffed. "I'm not too thrilled about having my precious little Maka be around some boy from the woods," he began in a light, teasing tone. "But, if you wanna win her over, you must first convince me before you do so."

Soul smirked. "Challenge accepted, old man."

"You know, I won't be around here forever," Spirit continued. "I will need a successor as strong and pure-hearted as Maka. I wonder, will you be able to do such as thing?"

"I promise, as long as I'm still standing, I'd protect her with my life. If she means that much to me, then I promise I will do the same with the kingdom," Soul answered.

Spirit chuckled at his determination, at the small, crimson fire that burned in his eyes. "Then you have my blessings."

Maka turned to the both of them and offered a warm smile, and Patty came around the crowd to her sister. "I told ya, sis!" She said cheerfully. "There _are_ such things as fairy tales!"

Liz laughed at her sister foolishness. "I guess there are," she said, gazing at the happiness in Maka's eyes as she walked around the courtyard with Soul, the both of them holding hands.

"I guess they really do exist."

**End**

* * *

***Closes giant storybook***

**And that, my wonderful readers, is the the end of A Soul Eater Fairy Tale. **

**Hope you liked it! **

**By the way, the story that was voted on is now out. If you voted for Melt, then it is finally out and on it's way to being updated. **

**Merry (early) Christmas, thanks for reading!**

**~Amber **


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